Pursuit of Happiness
by EmpnessMonster
Summary: There's a new bounty head on Mars, but when Spike goes after her, things get a little complicated. The real question is can the hunter ever live side by side with the hunted? .....my first fic!
1. Chapter 1

_HI! ; How's it goin? Okay..this is my first fic..and my only fic right now. oo; There are a few things I want to point out or just plain ramble. First, sans the prologue, I'm following the whole "BeBop" style by naming each chapter after a song that exists during MY generation (since the orig BeBop show used songs in the older gen). Second of all, if you are wondering...Emp is my persona and is the spiritual embodiment of myself (in short: yeah..she's supposed to be me anime-style). Third of all, and this is just trivia and a warning to flamers who think they can diss my writing for no reason but to try to piss me off: I started writing this three years ago (approx.), but I decided after about chapter 6 that "wow..this sucks" so I rewrote the entire thing...and then I just continued...so yeah...watch it. :P Anway..I have a feeling that I should shut up now but it's just that I'm SOO excited! Okay! BYE! ENJOY! SEE YOU AFTER CHAPTER 1!_

Prologue:

"Sir! We have been discovered!" stated a tall, black man. He was standing in a dark room filled with extravagant furniture. His boss was sitting on a large stuffed armchair across from another man in an identical chair.

"WHAT? By who?" yelled his boss, a tan faced man with black hair and dark eyes, obviously Italian.

"Two undercover ISSP officers. We're not quite sure how they got in the building. One has been shot down, but the other, only wounded, got away." Continued the Italian man's right-hand man. The Italian man was the leader of the Bacala Syndicate, one of the most powerful Martian syndicates since the Red Dragon Syndicate. He slammed his fist on a coffee table and looked up at the other man sitting across from him.

"YOU!" he bellowed at the other man, an executive of the ISSP, "You sent them here didn't you!"

"N..No!" said the other man, shakily. He and the Bacalas were in a smuggling operation together, but the ISSP didn't know of his own involvement in it.

"You've _deceived_ me!" the Italian seethed. "I thought we had a deal!"

"We did! We did! I don't know who sent them!" whimpered the executive. The Italian nodded to his other henchmen, who came stomping over, each grabbing an arm of the executive. The executive now started yelling frantically, "No…no. You cant! No! NO! STOP!"

"You did not hold true to your deal, Mr. Travaille." The Italian said, a sly grin spreading across his face as Mr. Travaille was dragged into another room, screaming and pleading. He listened patiently as the muffled sounds of Travaille's yells were stopped abruptly by the sound of a gun, followed by a large thud of a body falling to the ground. The Italian's smile grew even broader, but then his right-hand man approached him.

"Sir. What about the officer that escaped?" he asked.

"Have you identified him?" the Italian asked in reply.

"No. We haven't discovered _her_ identity. What do you wish us to do, sir?"

"A woman, huh? Well…" The Italian straightened his tie and his sly smile appeared once more, "we'll let the bounty hunters deal with her."

Chapter 1:

Just Another Day

The stars passed in front of Spike Spiegel's eyes, glittering and expressing their beauty. However, he remained unimpressed; he had seen them all before. He took a long breath of his cigarette and it swirled majestically into the air as he slowly let it out. His mind was still on his last bounty back on Ganymede. It ended the same; the bounty was caught and there was no remorse. There never was; he was jaded. Not a single bounty would ever affect him, for there were no emotional attachments. This was the way life was, and that was the way it was going to stay.

"Hooooow 'yall doin'?" said a male voice coming from the television. "It's time for another Big Shot!" The voice was from Big Shot, the informational show for bounty hunters.

"So, who's the top bad guy for today, Punch?" cooed Judy, the female co-host.

"Actually, today, it's a woman." Punch began. Spike yawned and hung his head over the back of the yellow couch in sheer boredom. Jet Black, the captain of their ship, the BeBop, was tapping away at the keys of his computer, completely uninterested in what Punch had to say. Faye Valentine, their feminine freeloader, was on the steps nearby, painting her nails while Edward (short for Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV) was chasing her data-dog Ein around the ship. "Her name is Emp Nemio and she's worth a whopping 11,000,000 woolongs!"

"Wooooooow! 11,000,000?" gasped Judy. At the sound of the price tag on Emp Nemio, everyone stared at the television. Their last bounty was only worth 8,000,000 woolongs.

"That's more than you're worth Faye." Sniggered Spike.

"Hey. It's worth more than all of us put together!" yelled Faye, annoyed.

"Be quiet!" said Jet. "There's more!"

"What did she do to deserve that, Punch?" wondered Judy.

"Well, it seems that she murdered a grande executive of the ISSP." Replied Punch with optimism.

"Oh no!"

"But the loco thing is that it wasn't the ISSP who put up the bounty money."

"Really? Then who was it?"

"We're not quite sure, but whoever it was is serious because 11,000,000 woolongs were deposited in Big Shot's account this morning!"

"Well, good luck all you bounty hunters out there." Everyone sat, bewildered at the amount of money put up for a bounty. Coolly, Spike lit up a cigarette and took a puff.

"Emp Nemio, huh? What's the deal with her, Jet?" he said.

"It's crazy. She has absolutely no criminal record. I mean, she even worked for the ISSP." Jet scratched his head. It didn't make any sense for such a high bounty to be placed on someone with no prior criminal record. Faye strode over to Jet's computer to see what Emp looked like.

"Wow. She's ugly." Spat Faye. Spike, curious, walked over to see for himself.

"She's not too bad. Better looking than you, Faye." He commented.

"What was that?"

"Alright, you two. Cut it out." Growled Jet, still wondering about the bounty. Both Spike and Faye walked out of the room in different directions.

"This doesn't make any sense. But, she's worth 11,000,000 woolongs." Sighed Jet.

"Nyah?" cried Ed.

"I don't know either, Ed."

_WEEELL? Did you like it? OOH pleeeeaaaaase comment! ii I've never had ANYONE read my stuff before so I'm reall exited/nervous/scared/happy...yeah. If you want to flame, go ahead...but my Spike action figure and I will just laugh at you! >D ...ahem OH YEAH! Emp Nemio is mine...no takee...Spike/Jet/Faye/Ed/anything that is even a cousin thrice removed of BeBop does NOT belong to me but belongs to that long list of people who DO...so there you go...my disclaimer..._


	2. Chapter 2

_Well...here we go. Chapter numéro 2! xx; Man..you guys have NO idea how exciting this is for me! And I really must say, PaulC, you truly made a young writer very happy. ; I was getting nervous becuase I thought that nobody liked it...anyway...here ya go everybody!_

Chapter 2:

Easier to Run

Walking down the street, completely unaware of her predicament, Emp Nemio was on her way to get a drink. She was still somewhat depressed that she couldn't find a job, so there was only one thing left to do; drink her troubles away. Her long brown hair shone in the sun whilst her golden brown eyes, usually full of life, were dim. It was winter on Mars, so the overcoat she was wearing raised no suspicion whatsoever. She was just a cold civilian. However, she was only cold on the outside; there wasn't a single drop of cold blood in her veins. Not like the cold blood that killed the ISSP executive.

When she entered the bar, it seemed busier than usual. She chose the only available seat, which was next to a man in a blue coat. She ordered her usual: two shot glasses of tequila, which she gulped down rather fast. In curiosity of why the little bar was so busy, Emp leaned over and asked the bartender.

"They're all bounty hunters. A bounty of theirs is supposed to be coming here later." Said the man in the blue coat sitting next to her.

"Oh. So these are all bounty hunters?" she asked him.

"Yup. They're after a murderer; an 11,000,000 woolong bounty."

"Wow. I can see why there are so many." She put money on the counter. "Well, I better get going. I wouldn't want to be here when their bounty shows up." She smiled, waved to the bartender, and walked out the front. Another man, sitting three seats down from hers, followed her out. Spike reached into his pocket and took out a picture printed off from Jet's computer. The woman that was sitting next to him a moment ago was Emp; She looked a lot more attractive in person. Of course, 11,000,000 woolongs were better in person too. He put the picture back in his pocket, put a woolong note onto the counter and walked out through the back exit, which led into the alleyway.

Emp began walking down the sidewalk, but a crowd pushed her into the alleyway. She wasn't really thinking about them; she was thinking about the man she was sitting next to. His voice, it was so calming. It made her feel better about her many problems. She wished she had stayed, but she couldn't go back so all she could do was continue walking down the alleyway. She had almost reached the end of the alley when a scratchy voice shouted at her from behind.

"Stop right there, Emp Nemio!" said the scratchy voice. Emp whipped around to see a shadowy man pointing a gun at her.

"Wha...what are you talking about?" she whimpered, no idea of what was happening.

"You're mine now, my precious bounty head." He growled, creeping towards her. She began stepping backwards when she suddenly bumped into somebody. She realized, after taking a look to see who it was, that it was the man in the blue coat. However, she didn't know that he was Spike Spiegel and that he was after her bounty also. He was holding a gun as well, but he shot at the shadowy bounty hunter, who dodged and fell into a trashcan. Emp backed away from Spike and turned to look at him.

"Thanks. I don't what that was all about." Laughed Emp. Spike just grinned and stared at her beautiful face.

"Well, I wouldn't want him to get my bounty, now, would I?" he chuckled. Emp's eyes went wide and her heart began racing.

"You're…you're…" she gasped in confusion and fear.

"That's right. I'm a bounty hunter too and it looks like I get paid today." He reached into his pocket and pulled out handcuffs. He examined them and when he looked up, Emp was running at him. She didn't look strong, but her ISSP training proved useful for she pushed Spike into the brick wall and started to dash down the rest of the alley. Spike, dazzled by her strength, quickly regained his balance and chased after her. Then, a trashcan rolled over and the shadowy bounty hunter wobbly ran after them.

Emp's heart was racing and she couldn't help but look back every couple of seconds only to see Spike practically breathing down her neck. Why was she a bounty; there must've been some sort of mistake. She had to loose them, but where? Slowly coming into view was a construction site; she'd try to lose them there. She climbed up a big pile of dirt onto the second floor of the steel structure, Spike and the other bounty hunter right behind her.

Twisting and turning, jumping from one steel beam to another, she managed to find herself sandwiched between the two bounty hunters. Spike, ahead of her, came to a screeching halt when he reached a dead end. Emp managed to stop from knocking both of them off the second floor.

"Phew. That was close." She sighed. Spike looked at her, confused. Suddenly, the shadowy bounty hunter bumped into both of them and Spike and Emp fell off into a big pile of cement powder, which cushioned their fall.

After minutes of coughing just to inhale all the dust again, Spike realized that his bounty was gone. She had slipped away; she had recovered faster than himself. Now, crowds of people were surrounding where they fell to see what happened and he heard something about a call to an ambulance.

"How'd she get away?" he coughed. "I guess, for 11,000,000 woolongs, she's not exactly easy." He waved off any attention and ran off to find his bounty. She couldn't have gone that far.

Emp was dizzy; she had just had the wind knocked out of her. She had started walking down the closest alley she could find. Her apartment…she had to get back to her apartment. Her apartment was the only place she was safe. However, she felt different. She wasn't as afraid as she figured she should be. She was almost hoping to be chased by the hunter again. That bounty hunter; something about him made her long to see his face again. What was she thinking? He was a bounty hunter. There were too many things she didn't understand. Her sudden attraction to someone she didn't know and what all this bounty business had to do with her.

"Tired, huh?" said a familiar voice behind her. She slowly turned around to see the one she was thinking about: the bounty hunter. He laughed. "You think this is all a game don't you?"

"I…I…" she couldn't speak. The handcuffs twirling on his finger struck her with fear. Her heart was pounding, but she wasn't quite sure if it was the presence of _him_ or her predicament. He strode up to her and they stood face to face. His eyes, glowing with pride; hers, shimmering with panic

Without warning, a bicyclist came zooming down the alley. In an attempt to get out of the way, Spike leapt forward, pinning Emp against the wall. He stared straight into her eyes and she stared straight into his. She was confused; more confused than ever.

"Why…why are you chasing me?" she asked him, the frustration getting the best of her voice. He stared into her eyes, as if he were reading her mind; trying to answer her questions. Something drew him to her as well. But, no; he couldn't. He needed the money. It's 11,000,000 woolongs. That's more than he had gotten in a long time and right now, he could easily grab the money. It was so close, but something inside of him told him that it was a lot farther away than it seemed. He couldn't just turn her in.

Off in the distance, sirens sounded. The police and the paramedics had arrived. If the police found her, they would take her away, but he wouldn't get the money. That same something inside him also told him that this wasn't about the money. If it wasn't for the money, then why was he considering all these things?

Emp looked in the direction of the sirens. She was going to go to jail. She didn't do anything, yet, hundreds of bounty hunters were after her. She felt the tears swell up in her eyes and slowly, the flowed down her face. Spike couldn't stand it; he decided what he wasn't going to do. However, he still didn't understand or agree with himself. So, in utter confusion of his own emotions he said it.

"Run. Run now."

"What?" Emp gasped. What was going on? Was this guy trying to help her or trying to capture her? She just wanted to scream for answers. Instead, she just looked at him, sniveling and trying to hold back her tears.

"Just run. Don't ask any questions." Spike backed away from her so she could get away, but he didn't understand. She was just standing there, staring at him. Why wouldn't she run? "Run NOW!"

"Who are you, cowboy?" she finally asked, taking a step towards her hunter.

"Spike Spiegel." He replied, still staring into her golden eyes as she approached him. She placed her hand on his face, gently.

"Thank you, Spike Spiegel." She whispered and her hand drifted off his face as she ran out of the alleyway.

_Voila! There ya go. Chapter 3 will be up in a few days..I wanna leave a little bit of space between chapters...:P happy_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey there everybody! It's been a few days so I figured I should post up the next chapter...It's kinda weird to read over all these begining chapters because my writing style has changed alot since a year ago when I started writing. :P I should probably go back when I'm finished with the whole story and edit a tad. Thanks Sanima for the great input. ; I should go back and do some editing, but I think I'll finish posting the rest of the story first. Aaanyway...here we go...Chapitre Trois! >D_

Chapter 3:

With You

"I don't believe this!" Jet screamed in Spike's face. Spike didn't even flinch; he knew this was coming; that his alibi wouldn't work.

"I told you," he said, eyes closed, "she got away. There was nothing I could do about it."

"Sure. We know you let her get away." Sighed Faye, annoyed that Jet was wasting his time on Spike rather than fixing them food.

"You stay out of this!" Spike and Jet yelled. There was a long silence. Jet stared at Spike, who was laying back in the yellow couch, acting like nothing was happening.

"Vrrrrrr! Vrrrr! Vrrrr! Phphphphph" Ed was acting like a fighter plane. Then she collapsed on the ground, Ein sniffing her in the face.

"Food…Ein…Edward needs food." She whined, but everyone just ignored her.

"I don't buy it Spike. I know she's beautiful, but she's still a murderer." Jet said. Spike jumped up and got into Jet's face; he didn't need any of his stupid philosophies.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He snarled. Jet looked surprised at first and then began to smile. Spike became agitated and began to tremble with fury.

"Why are you smiling?" Spike asked angrily, starting to cool down. He wanted to punch something. "I don't like her." he added.

"Foooood!" Ed cried, Ein howling along. Jet started towards the Bebop's kitchen to see if they had food when he stopped.

"You want to know why I'm smiling?" He asked Spike, who was pouting on the couch staring at the television, which had an advertisement for a new soda.

"Sure," he responded.

"I'm smiling because you've become such a bad liar." Jet told him, without the presumed chuckle in his voice. Jet continued walking into the kitchen, Ed and Ein following, leaving the pouting Spike alone with Faye.

Big Shot was back from their commercial break and the Big Shot music began blaring loudly. Infuriated, Spike kicked it off the table in annoyance.

"You know, that'll cost you." Faye sang with her usual sarcasm.

"SHUT UP!" Spike roared at her. Annoyed, she jumped up and strut out of the room, leaving Spike to contemplate his next move.

For almost a week, Emp had stayed traumatized in her apartment. She had lain on her bed for practically the whole time with only two things on her mind: Spike and the bounty that sat, happily, on her head like a monkey on her back. Too many things had gone wrong in her life and finally, when she finds her Mr. Right, he's a bounty hunter only attracted to her because of her price tag. This was just the way things happened to fall for Emp. Surprisingly, she hadn't gotten used to it.

Emp was an ex-ISSP officer on a pension and an active alcoholic. Night after night, she would drown out all of her troubles with whiskey, rum, but mostly, tequila. Hangovers visited frequently, like a best friend. However, other than her alcohol, she hadn't any friends. Now, her current dilemma didn't help any of these problems. Especially one of her biggest ones: money.

About six months ago, her pension had been cut. Without any pension, she had to find a new job, only to find that she wasn't qualified enough for any of them. With no income and her extensive use of alcohol, her rent was creeping up on her. Luckily, she had money in the bank, but soon, that river would also run dry. Her life had gone down the pan, and she was just about ready to go with it.

That was a week ago. Now, however, she had something to think about. A man who made her want to figure something out. His voice seemed to keep her troubles at bay, even when the words he was saying meant even more danger to her. Likewise, the words that he said stabbed at her heart, causing the bottles to come off their shelves only to empty themselves in a short, ice-filled glass. How could a man she barely knew make her hell feel heavenly and her heaven feel like hell?

So, with questions and headaches racing through her head, she was incapacitated for a week. Her once clean breath, smelling like alcohol and her once gorgeous golden-brown eyes, blood-shot; she was a mess. The only way she could sleep at night was to repeat the words spoken to her by her new love.

"Spike…Spiegel." Her cracked, dry lips savored every syllable as she drifted into the oblivion of sleep to escape her so-called life.

_Woopee! nn; Comments are always loverly and constructive comments are good too. Hope you liked! See ya soon in Chapter IV..._


	4. Chapter 4

_Here I am again...new chapter...by the way I dont know if I mentioned this or if you noticed, but the title of each chapter is the name of a song...:P yey...that's pretty much all I have to say right now...I'm pretty sure this is a good chapter..I dont even remember...I think it's longer than the previous ones...hmm...maaaybe. oO!_

Chapter 4:

Cinderella Undercover

This was one risk she'd have to take. But there had to be a easier way to go about it. Finally she got it. It was brilliant. She was going to be a chameleon, blending into her surroundings with each stimulus. Camouflage: that was the key; camouflage.

Emp was running low on everything. Within a week, she had finished two bottles of brandy and half a bottle of tequila. She knew she had to stop drinking, but the stress was too much for her to handle. Alcohol: with it, she'd just be more depressed. Without it, she might loose her head.

With a long flowing skirt, a white top exposing midriff, a new hairdo, and a long overcoat, Emp looked like any regular Martian. There were big crowds; perfect. The bigger the crowd, the harder it was to pick her out. Briskly walking with the fluid flow of the crowd, she walked for about half a mile.

Finally, she reached a little market on a street corner. There weren't many people inside so she tried to hurry up her shopping. First, she picked up the necessities: cup-o-noodles, chocolate, and coffee. Then, she picked out the obvious: two bottles of brandy. They were all she needed in order to keep herself concealed from bounty hunters until she figured this problem out.

Other than the mindless music playing from the store's speakers, the noise level was very low. You could almost hear voices from across the whole room. If anyone said anything suspicious to Emp, she'd hear it. So, when the person the next row over from Emp starting talking, it definitely seemed intentional.

"I'm looking for a gift for a friend." Said a familiar voice from the row next from Emp's.

"What kind of gift were you looking for?" said the clerk that was helping the gentleman customer.

"Well, she seems to like tequila." Emp's heart skipped a beat; it was Spike. It had to be. It was his voice. She couldn't have possibly forgotten the sound of his voice. His voice to her was her lullaby; the heavenly words she focused on time and time again. There was no mistake; he had found her. However, as much as she wanted to see him again, there was no way he was going to let her free again. So, struck by fear, she quickly bought her items and strode out.

There were no crowds on the usually busy street. It was as if it was affected by the events of the past few minutes. What was she going to do? Her apartment! She had to get back to her apartment. A few drinks and she'd forget the nostalgic voice that soothed and frightened her. However, with the lack of a crowd, she'd most likely be seen. The longer way to her apartment was sheltered by alleyways and small side streets, so nobody important would see her. It was only a quarter of a mile longer anyway.

She felt the relief wash through her like a breath of life. It was refreshing to be back again. She walked into her apartment, not notice Spike standing the dark corner next to the door, blending in with the shadows. Into the kitchen she went, basking in her relief and after she had set her groceries down on the kitchen table, she decided to take a nap before putting them away. Throwing her overcoat onto the floor, she walked, with her back towards the door, and was about to climb into her bed; her heaven, for the moment, at least.

"What? No 'hello'?" said the voice she could not forget. Spike. She wished she could run to him, but no. This was a one-way infatuation. Slowly, she turned around to face him. The only sensible part left in her mind continued to ask the question she couldn't answer: how could feelings like these, as strong as these, build up after only seeing someone once?

For moments, they stared at each other; Spike bearing a grim smile of satisfaction and Emp wearing her sick, grieving, tattered soul in her eyes. However, Emp didn't know how hard it was for Spike to cover up his true feelings. He didn't want to face them. He didn't want to give in to them, like Emp did. Instead he bore this gruesome smile; a smile that could drive even the most violent bounty to insanity. It was just so taunting and for Emp to stand and stare at it was almost too much.

"You know why I'm here, I presume?" he asked, his grin unmoved. Emp sighed, walked over to her window.

"Yeah. You're here to turn me into the police." She stared at the darkening streets outside. "You're here to receive you're check."

"That's right. I'm here to receive my check."

"I'm probably just chump change to you, right?"

"You don't get it do you?" his voice sparked with anger; annoyance.

"Get what?" she turned around and looked at him. Her face was a mask of pride and courage, for she didn't want him to see the face behind which was trembling at his anger.

"You're worth 11,000,000 woolongs. That's hardly chump change!"

"Well, then, can you tell me why I'm worth so little?" she asked him, shakily.

"You murdered a ISSP executive. But of course, you had no idea." Emp turned to the window again. The street was even darker now. However, the darkness didn't bother her; her life seemed darker than the midnight sky.

"No…I don't." she spoke, her voice flowing solemnly.

"I see." Spike trailed off. Suddenly, he continued, but with a calming, concerned tone. "Come here for a second. I want to look into your eyes."

The tone of his voice was like a thunderbolt to her heart. The temptation was too great. She had to go to him; she had to be closer. After a few steps, she was close enough to hear his breathing. To Emp, this was bliss; it was ecstasy. Spike continued, with the same soothing voice she loved so much.

"Now, close you eyes. Close out the world." Slowly she did. She closed out everything; everything except the slow, smooth sound of Spike's breath. Unexpectedly, Spike snapped two cold handcuffs on her wrists and Emp's eyes instantly blinked open in surprise. She felt like she was going to be sick. Her heart, her feelings had been played with, like a toy. The only one she had feelings for, the only one that made her life feel worth living, had rejected her with two quick snaps of handcuffs.

"You know, for an ex-ISSP officer, you should have enough money to at least fix up you're apartment. And, you have such a large bed for such a small apartment." Spike abruptly changed subjects.

"I used to have money, before the pension was cut." She spoke, her mask trying its best to stay solid.

"Pension?" he asked.

"Yeah, a pension." She could feel her mask quickly fading back to what were her real emotions.

"Why were you on a pension?" he continued to prod her.

"Because I got hurt, okay?" she snapped. It was too much for her. His job was to get money from her, not interrogate her. "I got injured on the job, so they sent me away on a pension. It was supposed to last another year, but it got cut after 6 months."

"I get it. You got mad because they cut you're pension, so you killed their head executive." He said, acting as if he completely understood. The story had almost no holes in it, but it wasn't accurate.

"Geeze. Are you bounty hunters completely unaware of time? He was murdered before I was even on pension!" She said with an angry criticizing tone. She couldn't stand it anymore; she couldn't bear to look at him. So, she turned back to the window, her shackled hands in front of her.

"Get some sleep. You have a busy day tomorrow."

"Where?"

"Where else? You're bed. It's big enough for both of us. If I stay on this side and you stay on the other side, you won't even know I'm there."

"Right." She wouldn't ever forget his presence. Although it seemed as if she hated him, her love for him pierced through hatred's dark clouds. She walked past the window to one side of the bed and lay down while Spike took the other side of the bed.

"Well, good night, my beautiful bounty head." Spike said cheerfully.

"Good night…Spike." Emp replied, tears slowly and silently rolling down her cheek. With a click at the lamp, they were shut into darkness. Emp knew now that her life wasn't worth living. Not a single being in the entire solar system cared about her existence. They probably would be grateful to Spike for getting a freak like her off the streets. She didn't feel like a murderer, but everyone else was almost sure she was.

Spike was facing Emp's back. He wasn't quite sure what kind of cover up she was trying to pull; sometimes she would act like a bounty head, other times she wouldn't. He just couldn't figure her out. As much as he needed the money, he couldn't help but notice the pain she felt inside. The whole time they were talking, she had acted as if something wasn't wrong, but he had sensed it all along. The pain. He knew it had something to do with him and he was almost sure what it was. Like he was attracted to her, she was attracted to him. She had given into her emotions, unlike he, and had been cruelly rejected. That little voice that told him she was innocent the first time in the alley was coming back. It was telling him that she really didn't do it; that she needed his help. No. It was a lie; an alibi. She did it; if she didn't, then why was she worth 11,000,000 woolongs. How come he had a passion for someone who was worth more to a bounty hunter than to anyone else? He longed to understand more, but his job came first. In his book, money was prioritized above love and affection.

"The first day…in the alley, why did you pretend to be innocent." He asked her, the loudness of his voice piercing the silence. She sniffed and almost laughed.

"I don't know. I thought I could accomplish something. I should have known no-one would believe…." She paused, her voice barely a whisper.

"…The truth?" Spike continued. Half of his body tensed up; that was almost like a gut reaction. He was starting to believe her. Then he heard Emp's laugh, filled with grief and sobs.

"Yeah. The truth. Nobody ever believes it anymore, do they?" her laugh was pitiful; it was the laugh of someone who was ready for the end. Spike chose to stay silent; this woman was already in enough pain and he wasn't helping. From the looks of it, she had been in trouble for a long time. He wanted to help her, but being a bounty hunter wouldn't allow him to. He had to become something different. He had to become what she wanted him to be; he had to be who, deep inside his soul, he wanted to be.

_Wow...god...sometimes I feel that I pull Spike in and out of character...he's REALLY hard because while Emp is like SUPER DUPER EMOTIONAL GIRL...Spike is practically jaded...xx; dialogue between them is pretty tough...wowza..hope you enjoyed. :P LATER!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Howdy, y'all! ; OMG! x-X; you flatter me toooo much!...pause not like I MIND it, of course. eE; Anyway...this is an important chapter...for the most part...yeah...okay...READ!_

Chapter 5:

Pinch Me

Emp woke with a start. The warm breathcaressing her neck and the bodyclose toher startled her. What was going on? Had Spike rolled over in his sleep? She didn't care if he did; it made her feel better. It was as if her dreams had come to life. Content, she began to slip off to sleep again.

Suddenly, before she drifted back to sleep again, Spike's arm rested around her, pulling her closer to his body. His hand reached for herownand his fingers slipped between hers. Emp, confused and a tiny bit afraid, looked over her shoulder and saw Spike's face buried in the back of her neck, his warm and steady breath caressing her shoulder. This wasn't a dream; this was real. So, as much as Emp didn't understand his affectionate actions towards her, she gave in. She snuggled up closer to him and he tightened his grip around her. Slowly and peacefully, she drifted off to sleep and, for the first time, she actually wanted to wake up.

With a wide yawn, Emp awoke from her contented sleep. She scratched her head and reached for her clock. That's when she noticed it, the handcuffs. They were gone. She quickly rolled over in her bed and she looked all around. Spike was gone too. Why did he leave? What was going on? Was the affection shown to her the night before just some sort of front?

"Gone…he's gone." Her eyes swelled up with tears. "He let me go. Why?" She didn't want to be free unless she was with him. Her life wasn't worth enough to stay alone. Now, there was only one thing to do, but the bottles didn't come off the shelves this time. They couldn't; Emp was unable to find them. Everything was gone: the cup-o-noodles, the chocolate, the coffee and the brandy; all of it. He must have taken it with him. What was going on?

There weren't any words to describe how angry Faye and Jet were with Spike. It was unimaginable; to let her go _twice_. There was no doubt about it: Spike had fallen for the bounty head and everyone was almost positive that a third try for Spike wouldn't accomplish anything but wasting time. Money on the BeBop was almost gone, so someone would have to catch Emp and get paid, before some other bounty hunter got to her first.

"It's 11,000,000 woolongs, Spike! Think of how much food we could buy!" Jet yelled in disbelief. Spike yawned and blinked his half closed eyes a couple times before he responded. He was tired; he had to leave Emp at 4 am so she wouldn't see him leave. He knew she would want him to stay, but he couldn't. As much as he loved her, he still had a job to do. He needed to find a way to prove her innocent, but how?

"I'm not hungry." Lied Spike, sleepily. He was starving; he hadn't eaten more than two meals in the past three days. He looked to his right. Ed was laying the on couch, next to him, drooling.

"Well, we are!" snarled Jet. "I don't care if you need food! We do! At first, I thought you could handle something like this, but obviously I thought wrong."

"Meaning?" Spike yawned.

"Meaning…you're off the case!" Something in Spike's head snapped awake. If he were off the case, he'd never see Emp again. He wouldn't be able to protect her. There was one way, however, he could go and see her, but it meant that he'd have to go against his rulebook. He'd have to put love in first priority, before his job. He didn't have to think about it. If it had to be done, it would be done. The strange feelings inside of him were too strong to forget. He loved her too much to let her go.

"Don't worry about Emp. I'll take care of her." Faye chimed in, haughtily. "You need a woman's touch anyway."

All the questions she was asking herself were giving her a headache without her alcohol. She had to have it so, she fixed her hair, grabbed her overcoat and some cash, and left the apartment. If she couldn't get her own alcohol, she'd just get it with a bartender's help.

The bar wasn't as busy as it was when she had last come. The only person at the bar was a woman dressed in skimpy yellow shorts and top. Emp didn't think there were any female bounty hunters so she sat next to the person in yellow. This was a lucky shot for Faye; it made her job a lot easier.

After Emp had ordered her shot of tequila, the bartender had gone into the back to get more tequila. This was Faye's chance; she spoke softly but strongly to Emp, who was startled by her words.

"I think Spike has lost his bounty hunting edge, Emp." She said, acting like she had known Emp for a long time.

"What?" gasped Emp. "How do you know Spike? Are you his…"

"Yeah. You could say we have a relationship. But that's beyond the point. I've caught you and I'm going to get my 11,000,000 woolongs." Emp couldn't do anything. Even if she tried to outrun this femme hunter, she knew that there were two bounty hunters sitting near the door. She had seen them give her looks as she walked in. There was no escape, but at least she would see Spike again if she went with his lady friend.

"Okay, Emp Nemio! Stand up. I've caught you." Announced Faye, deliberately trying to get the attention of the two bounty hunters at the door. What was she trying to do? Show off? With the gun pointed at Emp's stomach, she stood up and accepted the handcuffs that Faye snapped onto her wrists. She was then corralled outside and around the corner to where Faye had parked her space cruiser, the Red Tail. However, before Faye could shove Emp into her ship, the two male bounty hunters began to give her trouble. Without even noticing it, they gave Emp time to escape.

After examining her surroundings, she found it. The perfect escape route: a traffic jam. With a wild dash catching all three bounty hunter's attentions, she made for the slow moving cars. The bounty hunters were all chasing after her, but after almost getting hit by a car, they lost her. Emp was safely hidden behind a mail truck. When they turned their backs towards her, she ran to her apartment, which was sitting a block away.

She fumbled with the lock and key and finally, she entered her apartment once again. The first thing she did was lock her door and then she went to her side of the bed. She slumped down on the floor, so she was concealed by her bed, and began to sob. She was afraid. That was a close call for Emp. She was almost sure that this time, she would most definitely not get away. It felt like her first streak of luck, ever.

When Faye Valentine entered the living room of the BeBop, she didn't see anyone. She even walked right by Spike, who was smoking silently in the corner.

"Couldn't find her, could you?" he said, throwing his cigarette onto the floor to crush it out.

"Oh, I found her. But I found two other bounty hunters as a big bonus." She sighed and lit up her own cigarette.

"So she ran away. Good."

"Spike! Why do you think she's innocent?" Faye yelled.

"I don't think. I know."

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture of Emp. Why did he believe her? She hadn't any proof. Absolutely nothing and that was exactly it. She didn't have anything: money, job, friend, or a decent life. Maybe he just pitied her. No. He saw something in her eyes; her soul was in her eyes and he saw it. It wasn't a soul of a killer; it was a soul of someone who was ready to give up on life. She needed one last chance, and Spike had a feeling that her chance was him.

"Why do you love her, Spike?" asked Faye, solemnly. Spike didn't answer. He didn't have to tell Faye anything. As far as they knew, he was still denying his friendship to her. "Tell me. Why is she worth more to you than her bounty is?"

"Lives aren't _always_ measured by money, Faye." Said Spike, his voice a cold monotone.

"Fine. I don't care if you like her or not, but you're going to tell me where she lives." She sneered. Spike didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the picture in his hand once more and put it pack into his pocket. "Well, if you don't tell me, it doesn't matter. I snapped them on tight enough…she'll never get them off," Faye snickered,"Not unless she's a magician."

"Get…what off?" he asked, trying to keep his cool. Deep inside, a sudden jolt of fear struck his heart.

"Why, the handcuffs, of course. I _am _a bounty hunter, after all." He knew now how deep of trouble Emp was in. She wouldn't be able to do anything with the handcuffs on. He had to find her, but she would probably not want to talk to him. She would think that he told Faye where she would be. He had to get her to talk to him; it was the only way. Her fate depended on him.

_Woot...that last paragraph was written late at night...can you tell? XD My my...shakes head I do like Faye's dialogue...it seems to me that I captured the "essence of faye"...sweatdrop yeeaaah...but can you tell that I dont like Faye? ee; myeh...SEE YA! wave_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey! Wow..It's been a little over a week. I hope everybody in the US had a great 4th of July and that everybody in France has a good upcoming 14th of July. I know that China's independence day is in there somewhere, I just forgot when. Anyway, eats the pocky from Nekosune where are my yamyams? XDD Okay...this is a VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER! xx;During my first run through of the story (before I deleted it and restarted from scratch), I stopped in the middle of the chapter. And, after I had rewritten the story, I stopped at the same point in the chapter. Hmm..I wonder if you guys can guess which part I had trouble "conquering" before I could go on. XD Have fun. :P_

Chapter 6:

Send in the Clowns

They were her portable prison; the steel shackles that suffocated her wrists. She couldn't even move her wrists around, without force, that is. She longed to move her hands away from each other; far away. She wanted to spread her arms out wide and move each wrist without moving the other. But, most of all, she wanted to see Spike again, although, she was curious about his relationship with the woman in the bar. Was it just to get her flustered, or was it actually true? There were so many things she wanted to do, but she knew that they were only just dreams; dreams that were so far away from reality.

Even with the handcuffs on, her spirit diminished, and all the rest of her problems, something inside her told her to keep going. So, with whatever will she had left, she strived to keep herself alive, however, the light of her dwindling spirit was starting to flicker out, becoming smaller with each new day; each new attempt at her goal. Food was easy to get, until it ran out, and water would have been just as easy if her glasses and cups she used so often to get herself intoxicated weren't so hard to reach. The only way to get water was to stick her head under the sink, and soon, she became proficient at it. Unfortunately, it would seem soon that all her hard work had been achieved in vain.

"This would be a perfect time for my prince charming to burst in to help me!" she paused and her eyes sunk in sadness. "That would be great…if I _had_ a prince charming." For her, it'd been a long day, so she was just about ready to flop onto her bed and take a long nap. Oblivion seemed better than what she was living now. However, right before she could flop onto her bed, she tripped over herself and hit her head on the curly brass headboard, knocking herself out cold on the floor. What she didn't know is that she didn't trip on herself; she had tripped upon her bad karma.

Oblivious to time, she awoke many an hour later only to feel a burning sensation on her left temple. She reached to feel what the pain was, but her hands would not go. Slowly, her eyes followed the twisting, intertwining design of the only expensive possession she still owned. Following the billowing curls of brass up to a steel chain wrapped into the gnarling helixes, that was her snare; the very place where she tossed her intoxicated body to sleep off any and every pain that crept into her soul. Everything around her hated her, but she saw a way.

"I think I can…get it." She moaned and she stood up and, with the last of her energy, twisted and yanked her hand this way and that. Finally, she could see the hope up ahead. With a whole body motion, she yanked with all her might only to be violently tossed to the ground with her handcuffs even more tangled than when she started. She slumped to the ground, her arms stretched and her wrists bleeding. Tears streamed down her tired face and her eyes almost seemed grey with anguish.

"Forget prince charming…just please, anyone, help me." She sobbed and drifted off to sleep. There was an aura of death around her. A strong smell; strong enough even to keep the Grim Reaper away.

The steady sounds of his footsteps were like a metronome as Spike climbed the staircase. However, this staircase wasn't the staircase of the BeBop; nor was it the staircase to any hotel. These were the stairs that led to Emp's apartment. Emp Nemio, the bounty head that he had feelings for; the woman he had to save. But, would she understand that he had come to help her, not to turn her in? Could she tell that he had finally given into his emotions and had confessed to himself that he had fallen in love with her? He could only hope that she trusted him.

Even though her apartment was at the top of the building, the length of the staircase seemed longer. The wait was unbearable and Spike's metronome footsteps became rushed and erratic. Finally, he reached the top. He walked up to the only door on this flat and stared at it. Behind this door was the woman he loved; the woman who needed his help. Pausing only a second, he approached the door and knocked.

"Emp…it's me. Spike." He said, his voice stern, as usual. Inside, crumpled on the floor, tied to her bed, Emp slowly opened her eyes upon returning from her sleep. She had heard something; something that jogged her memory.

"Please open up. I'm here to help you." Spike continued, his voice loosing its famous cool. He knocked again. "You've got to trust me."

It was Spike! He had come to rescue her. As much as she wanted to yell out to him, she was too ashamed of her predicament.

"Emp…" he became quiet, the silence echoing his sorrow, "please, please tell me you're there…" She couldn't take it. Her heart beat faster and faster as the words were forming in her mind. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and down her chin; her eyes were longing to see his face again.

"Spike. I'm…I'm here." She sobbed, twisting her wrists only to feel the crackling of dried blood.

"You're still there. Emp, open up; I'll help you." He responded, his voice filled with hope and character again.

"I can't open the door." She said. Her chest heaved with sadness as the tears tumbled down her wet face with every realization of her helplessness.

"Why not? What happened?" Spike had his ear to the door, leaning against it eager to hear what she had to say next. Was she hurt? Was she sick? What was wrong?

"N..nothing. Listen! Forget about me! Stop getting yourself in trouble with your colleagues!" she wailed, her chest now heaving desperation.

"What?"

"Just...forget about me!"

"No." his answer surprised Emp. Her breath caught in her throat. Did he actually care about her? No. It didn't matter. He was risking more than he had to for someone like her.

"Why?" she coughed, her voice raspy and dry, her tears streaming as fluidly as ever.

"I can't…let you go." He needed to get to the other side of the door. His mind, as troubled as it was at the time, searched for a way to open the door. Finally, he got the perfect idea. "Emp…what ever you do, stay away from the door."

He pulled out his gun from its holster and aimed it at the key-hole. With one shot, the door silently creaked open. The first thing that Spike saw was Emp, crumpled up on the floor, ready to die, her arms stretched over her head and her wrists hanging, bloody and dead. Her eyes slowly slid up to meet his gaze only to swell up with tears upon seeing his face. He rushed to her and whipped out a key, slid it into the lock and unlocked both her hands. They fell limp to the floor and the blood quickly rushed back into her limbs. Then, she brought her eyes back up to his again. They both sat, silent, staring into each other's gaze. Her eyes swelled up again, but she refused to blink, in fear that when she opened her eyes, he'd be gone.

"You…you came back. You came to save me." She sniveled. He gently began wiping away her tears as they fell from her sullen eyes.

"Don't cry. There's no need to cry." He said, his voice soothing her mind and soul, just like it always did to her. She closed her eyes, moved closer and leaned into him. Her breathing matched his breathing pattern as she drifted off into the sea of dreams, her prince charming watching over her.

Emp was awake, but she refused to open her eyes. There was a twinge in her heart that told her that Spike was gone. However, she'd never know if she didn't open her eyes. She could live with her eyes closed, not knowing, or she could look. With a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes and, without lifting her head off of the pillow it lay on, she looked around the room. Left and right; all she could see was darkness. But, even in the darkness there were shapes, but none of them the shape of Spike. She sat up, staring at her door, and her eyes flooded with tears.

"Why?" she yelled in anguish. Her words came straight from her tattered heart to her dry lips. "You left me again! Why?"

Spike, lying on the floor next to the bed, sprung up in surprise. What was all that noise? What was going on? He rubbed his eyes and yawned while Emp just stared at him.

"What? You're...still here?" she stuttered, sniffing back her tears. Spike blinked a few times, turned to look her in her beautiful face, and yawned.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?" he said, his humor not even cracking a smile upon his face. Emp's eyes, however, lit up as life flowed into them. Her love! He was still here!

"Wha...what are you doing on the floor?" she inquired, leaning over the edge of the bed, only her wrists to support her.

"Well, after I took your handcuffs off, you fell asleep on me, so I put you on the bed and slept on the floor." He blinked a few more times and stared into her eyes. He hadn't seen them sparkle this much ever since the first time he talked to her in the bar. She was so happy, so unaware of her situation. He was happy that she was back to her normal self; he was happy because she was happy. He revealed a smile and then so did she.

"Spike…" her eyes darted downwards, towards the floor and her eyes brows twisted in thought, "you probably know this but, I…I'm…" Before she could tell him how much she loved him, how much she longed for him, her tender wrists gave out under her weight and she fell forward onto Spike. Luckily, he caught her, but fell back in the process.

They were the closest they've ever been to each other. Nose to nose; eye to eye. She could feel Spike's slow breathing and Spike could feel Emp's racing heartbeat. Emp, however, was still ready to say what she needed to tell him.

"I'm in lov…" she began but she trailed off. Spike's soft discolored eyes soothed her mind and she couldn't get her words out of her mouth.

"I know. I know." He said, his voice as soft as his eyes, but yet, still stern. Emp rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes, cherishing every second she was with him. She ran her fingers slowly through his soft curly hair. Nothing in the world could upset her now that she was safe in his arms.

Spike took one arm and embraced her. Staring straight into the ceiling, he thought deeply about his decision. He was turning his back on all of his colleagues just to love and protect this one woman. Suddenly, the dormant bounty hunter part of his mind, the part of his mind that enable him to stay jaded during bounty hunting situations, popped into his head. This wouldn't work. This was his job, not his pleasure. However, as much as this part of his mind tried to convince him to turn Emp in, he ignored it. But, if he didn't turn her in, then what would he do? He would leave her. He'd go back and lie to Jet, Faye, and Ed. They would have no proof in order to see it was a lie.

"Get up. I have to go. This won't work." He said, and he waited for her to slowly pull herself up off of him so he could leave, but what he heard surprised him

"No." she said and she didn't move an inch. Her face still nestled into his neck.

"Emp. I'm a bounty hunter and…and you're the bounty head. This would never work. Now get up!" his voice was stern now, and if she hadn't been snuggled up next to him, she would have crawled up into a corner and wept. However, she wasn't and so, she continued to play with his hair.

"No." she finally said.

"Why not?" Spike sighed in anger.

"Spike…I love you. Don't leave me again. I wont be able to stand it. Unless…" she paused, her voice slow and sad.

"Unless what?" he said, calming down.

"Unless…you don't love me." There was a long silence that followed. Spike was baffled; of course he loved her. If he didn't, then why was he doing all of these things for her? His strife was almost the same as hers, so how could she say something like that? Emp finally brought her face up to look him in the eye. The sparkles in her eyes were fading as she was practically reading his thoughts in his eyes.

"Of course I do." He finally said, not wanting her eyes to lose life again.

"Then say it." She said the solemn in her voice echoing in his head.

"I just did."

"No! I want to hear _you_ say it!" her voice was frantic now. She knew that he was trying to avoid saying it. What she didn't know was that he couldn't find himself to say it. He was brave in the sense that he could take on many enemies at a time, but he couldn't openly tell the woman he adored that he loved her. Slowly, her eyes solemn and her soul torn, she began to crawl off of him. Spike's mind raced; he didn't know what to do. He was losing her. He loved her too much to let her go. So, he reached out and pulled her face towards his.

The feeling was more than just adoration, obsession, or lust; it was the feeling of love. She didn't have to have her eyes open to see how much he loved her. She didn't need to look into his eyes to read his mind. She could feel his love, just like he could feel hers. She hadn't been kissed in a long time, but she still knew that she loved Spike more than life itself. The bliss she felt swept away any surprise or doubts of his love that she ever had. This proved it all.

Spike, however, had felt a bit surprised at his actions, but the surprise disappeared when his lips touched hers. Of all the fears of humans, his worst fear was losing her, and now he had proved to her that he loved her enough to conquer all fears.

Their intimacy lasted a only few seconds, but it seemed longer than that. Spike finally pulled away and opened his eyes. Emp, with tears yet again streaming down her face, pressed her face against his and ran her fingers through his hair again. Something was different though; her tears weren't tears of anguish this time, but tears of joy.

"Is that enough proof that I love you? Or do you still need more?' he said, his voice quiet and affectionate.

"I love you, Spike. Please, don't leave me. You can't leave me." She sighed and kissed his cheek.

"I'm not leaving. Not now; not ever." He said, wrapped both arms around her in a large embrace then kissed her cheek. They were lost in their love for each other.

_Wow...;; I'm still sensing an "OOC" moment for Spikee here, but I could just be beating myself up about it. It's never going to be good enough for me, is it? xx; sigh Anyway...I'm going to leave you until next time with one final thought: I love "love". _


	7. Chapter 7

_Well, here we are on another happy monday..ee; I'm sooo glad everybodylikes this story so much! ; Really, you have NO idea how much your flattery just cheers me on:D Anyway...to all you EXTREMELY CRAZYOVERZEALOUS BEBOP FANATICS...like me...this chapter's name derives itself from a song that we all know.:P _

Chapter 7:

Words that We Couldn't Say

Curled up in a sea of blankets, Emp, almost willingly, opened her eyes. The late morning sun danced on her front door as the sounds of the street drifted in through her open window. In her room, all was quiet, but before she let her heart begin to ache, she sat up and looked to her kitchen. Spike was sitting there at her table smoking; looking at her. She was relieved for, even after the night before, she still had doubts; he was a bounty hunter after all.

He watched her solemnly, but with much interest. He was confused at why she had a semi-surprised look on her face. Didn't she think that after kissing her, he would stay? She cleared her throat and said with a voice trying to hide her relief, "What are you doing?"

"Watching you." He said, taking a long breath out of his cigarette. She gave a fake giggle. Then he continued, "Why do you look so surprised? You don't think that after last night that I would leave, do you?"

"Well….it's like a gut reaction, I guess."

"You don't trust me still?"

"No…it's not that…"

"Then a reaction to what?" his voice was stern and vexed. What did he have to do to prove to her that he loved her? What more did he have to do? He stared at Emp, whose eyes drifted down to her sheets, as if she were thinking about something. She was; she was getting prepared for what she was about to say and with a large sigh, she lifted her eyes and began.

"In the last couple of weeks, I have found that I have a large bounty on my head, posted for a murder I didn't commit. I have gotten drunk many more than a few times and have gotten the same number of hangovers. I have been stalked and talked to by bounty hunters, locked up, and my heart's been tossed around like a plaything by a bounty hunter whom I'm crazy for. I have been trapped in handcuffs, tied up to my bed stand for a day, chased around a construction site, and at gunpoint because of the price placed on my head. But the worst part was that I had both nightmares and dreams about a man I barely know and that I am almost sure I cannot live without. Day and night I have wondered if he would come to save me or to banish me to a hell, leaving with my heart in his hands and money in his pocket. You have left me twice, Spike Spiegel, so now, you tell me why I _shouldn't_ react; why I _shouldn't_ be paranoid." Her voice was just about frantic, but somehow, the tears stayed back this time. She felt stronger than she did before, but she was still worried. Spike continued to stare at her, the emotion that was in his eyes told her that he had heard and understood every word she had said. He had always known that she'd been through a lot of dismay recently, but he had never put together all of the things that had happened. But now, he understood; every time that she got a chance to finally adapt, someone threw a wrench in the spokes and she had to start all over again. The kiss they had shared the previous night created a new joy for her, but she had been prepared for death and a rejection from him, so now, she had to start planning her mind for life with him; for life in general.

"I'm sorry." He said, the coolness and softness of his voice ensuring her that he truly was, however, Emp wasn't quite sure why he was sorry.

"Why are you sorry?" she sniffed looking modestly down back at her sheets.

"I didn't mean to burden you with any of this anxiety." He snuffed out his cigarette in a glass ashtray she had on her table. "It took me awhile to figure out how I really felt; maybe it took too long. I know that I'm a bounty hunter, but you just have to trust me."

"I trust you." She whispered and she buried the side of her face in her pillow, staring into nothingness. Spike picked up the chair he was sitting on and placed it in front of her so he could sit near her. He affectionately brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen across her face as he looked into her eyes. She took Spike's hand and held it to her cheek.

"I love you." He said, his quiet voice lingering in her mind. Emp pale lips curved into a small smile and she slowly blinked her golden eyes.

"I know, Spike…I know."

They sat in silence, finding comfort in each other's company. Soon, Emp got washed up and dressed, all the while she was thinking about her horrid predicament. She had come to the realization that even though she now had Spike, that didn't mean that all of her troubles were over; she still had that devil of a bounty following her wherever she went. As far as she could tell, she was falling down a bottomless pit.

She walked out of her bathroom, clean and looking like new with a grim look on her face. She knew exactly what she came out here to do; drink away her troubles, again. Of course, she had one less trouble on her mind, but that didn't matter; trouble was trouble, and she didn't like any kind of it.

"My life's a Hell." She stated and Spike turned around in surprise for he didn't know that she had walked into the kitchen. She wasn't walking towards him, however, and he knew where she was going. He jumped up and as she opened the liquor cupboards he slammed his arm across them, pinning them shut. Abruptly, she turned to look at him, her face showing her helplessness. She choked, "Wha...what's this?"

"I don't want you drinking anymore. You have to drop the habit." He said and snapped handcuffs on the cupboard's handles. Emp gaped at him, bewildered at his actions; since when did he know that she had an alcohol problem?

"What…habit? What are you talking about, Spike?" she laughed, pretending that she had no idea of what he was talking about.

"Ha ha! Nice try, my dear." He grinned and then strode back to his chair. Emp pried at the cupboard and scratched at it, she even tried sticking her hand in between the gap the doors made in hope to pull something out, but it was no use; nothing could fit through. Her precious alcohols were locked up for good. She stomped over to the table Spike sat at and thumped down on a chair across from him.

"I've been thinking…" Spike began.

"Yeah?" Spat Emp, pouting.

"And I kind of figured out a way to find out how to get rid of your bounty."

"Great…"

"I figure we could...stop pouting." He told her. She just stared at him, almost leeringly. "I locked them up for your own good."

"I'll go crazy without them!" she cried, giving him her helpless look again.

"But you'll be even worse with them…trust me." He looked her in the eyes calmly and he could tell that she was calming down also. "You want to get that bounty off your head, right?"

"Yes…"

"Then you'll have to give up drinking." Emp sat in silence and listened to Spike as he continued with his idea to free her. "Like I said, I figure that we should start by finding out who put the bounty on your head. See, he didn't release his name to the public, so maybe you actually know who put up the money."

"Maybe, but if they didn't release their name, then how can we find out?"

"Big Shot _always_ has a name on record, just sometimes they don't release the names if they are told not to. It's all stored on their database."

"That's great…just great. And how do you suppose we get that information off their database?"

"Well, the only way is to hack into their computers."

"Hmm…I know I can't hack. What about you, can you hack?"

"No." a sly grin spread across Spike's face, "but I know someone who can."

_Omg...you all have absolutely no idea how much I'm dying to post up the next chapter. >D It's gotta be one of my favorites...or at least how it starts out...as for THIS chapter...wow...I didnt know Spike was so good with coming up with plans. XDD But he's SOOO convincing..ee; If I was a bounty head with a drinking problem, he'd sure make ME quit. >D Okay...till next week happy BeBop peoples. ;_


	8. Chapter 8

_OMG! I swear, if people dont LOVE this chapter, I am a complete an utter failture. () This is one of my favorite chapters and I think some of you probably know whats gonna happen. This chapter is so awesome that I just had to name it after one of my favorite Oingo Boingo songs...lol. Anyway...I could hardly sit on my chair when I wrote this...I was cracking up! oo; but that's just me...ENJOY!_

Chapter 8:

Only a Lad

"I'm walking down the street! Down the street I'm walking! Street street tastes like nasty feet! Nasty! _Nasty_!" sang Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV while she marched down the busy Martian streets with her computer balanced on her head and her dog Ein at her heels. Ever couple of steps, she'd make a liquid dance move or start moonwalking. She was the strangest girl you'd ever seen; her bright orange hair and black shorts made her look like a little boy. She was on her way to Emp's house on request of Spike, but she wasn't allowed to tell Jet where she was going. "115! 115! 115 is nice and clean! Not 116 or 114 because 115 is in between!"

A right turn here, a left turn there, and finally she came to where she wanted to be. She put her face close up to the apartment building's sign and placed her finger under the words as she read. "We…st Side…Apartments. West Side Apartments!"

She turned to her dog Ein and smiled. Ein barked in agreement with her. Now, all they had to do was find apartment number 115. "We foooound it Ein!"

She dashed to the front door and ran up all the steps with Ein racing closely behind her. After a few minutes and many, many stairs, Ed and Ein were panting from all their racing; they didn't know that Emp's apartment was at the very top.

"115…115…it's not…to be…seen." She panted and Ein's ears went back as he whined. She continued up a few more flights of stairs and when they came to the top, she stopped and stared disappointedly at the wall in front of them. "…It's not here, Ein."

They stood, discouraged when she looked to her right and jumped for joy. There it was! Apartment number 115! She leapt at the door and sang, "Wow! Ein! We made it! _We made it_!"

Loudly, Ed knocked at the door, singing more of her songs. "We are here! We are here! Open! Oooooopen! It's time for tea so open for meeeee!"

Spike opened the door only to have Ed in his face. "Ed and Ein made it, Mr. Spike Spike! We maaaaaaaade it!"

"Wha…ED! Be quiet! I thought I told you not to tell the whole world! Now get in here!" Spike growled in surprise and frustration. He yanked Ed and Ein into Emp's apartment and quickly locked the door behind them. "Yikes…this may have been more trouble than it was worth."

"Trouble, trouble! Toil and double!" Ed sang some more.

"It's 'Double, double, toil and trouble'! Now be quiet!" Spike growled again, but looked up when he heard laughing. However, it wasn't Ed's annoying child laugh; it was Emp cracking up at how he was reacting to Ed. Then, he scratched his head and sighed, "Oh yeah…Ed this is Emp. Emp, this is Ed: our hacker."

"Hello, Ed." Emp laughed.

"Howdy, Emp Emp." Bubbled Ed, bouncing over to Emp.

"Who's your friend?" asked Emp, pointing to Ein and he barked. Ed picked him up and shoved him to Emp.

"Oooooooh! This is Ein! He's a data dog-puppy-doggy!" Ein didn't squirm; all he did was smile a doggy smile at Emp.

"Ed! Cut it out! Emp doesn't want a dirty dog!" Spike sneered and he ran over to snatch Ein away, but Ed held Ein away from Spike.

"Ein isn't dirty! Ed gave him a bath this morning!" she giggled and Ein barked again.

"Alright…now can we get down to business?"

"Yes! Yes!" she announced and began to set up her homemade computer in the middle of the floor. She slid on a pair of goggles that were hooked up to her computer. Then she asked, "What is Ed looking for for?"

"I need you to hack into Big Shot's database and tell me who posted the bounty on Emp Nemio."

"Right right! Sacred sacred information!" she sang and she began to type. The way she typed was the oddest thing: her fingers were all over the place and her arms moved up and down in a wavelike motion. She swung her head back and forth and Emp let out a chuckle when she stood on her hands and typed with her feet. As if she weren't strange enough, she now resembled a monkey.

"Did you find anything, Ed?" asked Spike, not as angry as before. He had given into the thought that Emp was greatly amused by her and he felt that a good laugh was just what Emp needed.

"Mark, lark, Clark, spark, park!"

"What does that mean?"

"Um…the man man who posted Emp Emp's bounty waaaas…Mark Sabatino!" said Ed, pointing to a small picture of Mark. He had short black hair and small beady eyes, which seemed to burn fear into your heart. Quietly, all stared at the picture for a while, until Spike asked Ed, "Who is this 'Mark Sabatino', Ed?"

"Let Ed check…" she said. Spike looked at Emp to see if she recognized him, but she shook her head and shrugged. Ed continued, "It says here that he's a CEO of Sirocon Space Ship Parts Distribution."

"So he's just a suit? What would he want with framing Emp for some random murder?" pondered Spike. Emp sat there, staring at the picture of Sabatino. Memories of when she was an ISSP officer flashed back into her head. It couldn't be the same guy, could it?

"He's also the head of the Bacala Syndicate." Emp said, shakily. Spike looked back at her and asked, "Didn't you say that you didn't know who he was?"

"I….I didn't remember what happened until now." She whimpered.

"What happened?"

Emp took a deep breath and continued, "A few months before I had left the ISSP on account of my injury, my superior sent my partner and I to go undercover and check out this smuggling op led by the Bacalas. In fact, this was the same undercover job where I got shot and had to go on pension. Well, anyway, my partner and I split up, but I just happened to stumble across Sabatino making a deal with one of the executives at the ISSP. So, I ran to find my partner and told him. We made a run for it, but some of the syndicate members were on our tail and that's where we got shot."

"_We_?" asked Spike, confused. He had heard her mention that she had gotten shot, but not her partner.

"Yes. They shot my partner in the back and me in the shoulder. I got out of the building, but my superior insisted that I stay off the job for a couple years while the wound healed." Emp sighed, and moved her right shoulder around in circles, wincing as slight pain shot through her shoulder and up her neck.

"What happened to your partner?"

"He…um…" she looked down at the ground.

"I understand." Spike said and waited for Emp to continue. She sat in silence for a moment, trying to remember the chain of events that happened after that.

"I didn't hear about the murder of the ISSP executive, though. I'm not quite sure about that, but I can tell you that the reason _I'm_ being framed is because I'm the only living witness of the scandal that would send him to jail and end his syndicate." Emp continued to stare at the ground. Spike looked at Ed, who was just playing around on her computer; she hadn't been listening at all, but it didn't matter anyway.

"Ed. Can you do more research on the recent ISSP murder?" he asked her. She turned around and gave him a gagging face.

"BLEAAAH! Ed doesn't like research!" she exclaimed. Spike rolled his eyes and decided not to plead with her. They'd be better off if he got Jet to do the research; Jet was a former ISSP officer anyway so he knew who to ask the questions to. The real question was, however, how to get Jet to help out a bounty head.

"Never mind then, Ed. You can go back to the Bebop now." He said, but Ed had fallen asleep. He let out a big sigh, stood up, and walked over to the door. Emp followed him and asked, "Where are you going, Spike?"

"I'll go and talk to Jet and see if he can get more information on what you said about the smuggling op involving the ISSP. He might be able to get us information, that is, if he agrees to."

"Is Jet one of your colleagues?"

"Yes; one of mine, but not one of yours. Remember that." He said and walked out of her apartment, closing the door behind him. Suddenly, he opened the door again, looked at Emp and said, "Emp, I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

"I'll be here." She smiled, but after she heard Spike's footsteps fading down the staircase, she continued, "…I hope."

_Emp! You pessimist! eE; Okay...I'm sorry people..the next chapter's not anymore interesting than a board on a fence, BUT it's important to move things along. I mean..it took me so long to get through it b/c it was so boring. That's probably why I made it only only 969 words...ee; So..I'll see you guys next monday! Btw, monday's are my unofficial posting date now. :P Wewt...later!_


	9. Chapter 9

_...I'm back. wewt! ; Omg...cries I LOVE YOU ALL! >>; You're too damn nice to me! lol...eE; cant say that I MIND it though...whee. Okay...this chapter sucks...not because it's like..crappy writing, which it is, but it's just as boring as hell...blaaa...at least TRY to enjoy. ee() wewt..._

Chapter 9:

Insanity

Spike's decision to go and see Jet was risky, for it was going to contradict everything he had told him previously about how he felt about Emp. Whatever he did, he had to make sure neither Jet nor Faye knew where Emp lived. He had to keep her location as secret as possible because it was already a luxury that she had a decent hiding place at all. If her apartment stayed a secret, then he could leave like this and not worry about her getting in trouble, but he hoped he wouldn't have to leave her often. This, however, was an emergency. They knew who did the crime, they just needed proof, and, as much as Spike didn't like to admit it, Jet was especially good at doing this. So, he landed his Swordfish on the BeBop and walked in.

Jet was sitting on the yellow couch, typing on his computer, when Spike entered. Spike didn't acknowledge him, but Jet looked up at his entrance. Jet started interrogating him, his voice sounding like a low growl.

"So…you've decided to come back, huh? Had enough fun playing around with our bounty? What makes you think that you could just come back?" he said. Spike calmly walked over to the yellow chair across from Jet, sat down, and put his feet up. "We have no money, thanks to your current antics! SPIKE…are you listening?"

"I came back…" Spike paused; he wasn't quite sure how to put his thoughts into words, "because we're having trouble." Jet continued leering at him from above his computer.

"_We're_ having trouble? Who's _we_? I know you're not talking about Ed, Faye, and myself."

"Emp…and I. We're having trouble proving she's innocent." Jet began to laugh dryly.

"Of course you are. Because she's _not_ innocent! You can't make up history!" Spike looked at him, unfazed by Jet's rude laughter.

"If you mean the murder of the ISSP executive, she witnessed it."

"Oh yeah? Then who _really_ killed him?"

"Some hot-shot named Mark Sabatino."

"Mark…Sabatino? He's the leader of the Bacala Syndicate!" gasped Jet, then continued, "But, Spike, you'll have to produce more than a name just to make me believe that she's innocent." So, Spike explained to Jet the entire story: How, secretly, the ISSP was making deals with the Bacalas, how Emp and her partner had snuck into the Inosa's HQ, and how Emp got shot and her partner killed. After all the facts had been told, Jet sat thinking to himself.

"See? Story works perfectly." Spike gloated. Jet scratched his head staring into open air, as if analyzing the facts.

"Yeah, but there still are a few holes. Like, for instance, what kind of job were the Bacalas and the ISSP in together? It can't just be _anything_ if the ISSP is involved." pondered Jet. They had most of the facts, but with some of them missing, a case against suit like Sabatino would prove futile. Sabatino had money, power, and a company that could make him seem legit. Except a select few, everyone else thought he was just a CEO, not a Syndicate leader. Plus, even if you tried to prove his involvement with the Syndicate, he'd have the courts crush you like a spider on the wall with no problem. However, even with that kind of power, you couldn't let one person get away with any information that, even if the chances were slim, could prove you guilty. If Sabatino were ever to be proven a Syndicate leader, every ally he had ever had–the courts, the ISSP, other Syndicates–would be on his back instantly in fear that their relations with Sabatino would ruin them. Jet continued, "So, somehow he must have figured out that Emp was the one that knew of their deal. But why kill Travaille, the ISSP suit?"

"Simple," said Spike, "if I were Sabatino and I was in a deal with an ISSP executive like Travaille, catching a couple of undercover ISSP officers would make me think that he hadn't stayed true to his deal." Jet nodded and using one hand, typed something on his computer.

"Alright. I'll help you two out, but if in the end it turns out that she's just lying to you, I get my share _plus_ half of your share of the bounty." Said Jet, starting his low growl again. Spike stood up, stretched and began to walk out, but before he left the room he turned around.

"Thanks Jet, but I'm sorry that you'll be disappointed by not getting any bounty." Spike smiled and walked out.

Spike knew that later he'd want a drink, although, he wasn't quite sure why. All he knew is that when that time came, he wouldn't be able to because, just that morning, he had locked them away where Emp couldn't get to. However, what he didn't know was that she was an extremely heavy alcoholic and that she wasn't going to react well when the stress decided to jump on her all at once. For him, alcohol was just an occasional stress reliever, but for her it was her way of getting through each day, especially at times like these.

Figuring that she wasn't going to miss him much more if he stayed out for another hour, he went to a bar to get a drink and to think over his plans of action. Who was he kidding? He didn't _have_ any plans of action. He was doing what Spike Spiegel usually did; he was winging it. For the duration of his entire bounty-hunting career, he never once planned out anything himself. If there were any plans it was Jet who thought them out. Spike himself was really just a worker bee, but did that bother him? Not one bit.

_Okay..see? What did I tell you? meh...>>; Okay...so I feel bad at leaving everybody with a crappy boring chapter this week so I'll probably update later this week to make up for it. lol...Look for another chapter around wednesday or thrusday afternoon. YupYup...till then! wavie_


	10. Chapter 10

_Hey! I know I promised this early in the week but I got lazy. xx; soo..here it is now. If I really wanted to, I could have researched alcoholism a bit BEFORE writing this chapter...being that I have no personal experience and that the only vision I have about "drying out" comes from Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai". XDDDDDDDD forgive me for my impotence. eE; So..yeah...READ! lol_

Chapter 10:

Going Under

Now, normally, alcoholics go through a "drying-out" phase when they don't have alcohol for awhile. Depending on whether or not you are an extremely heavy alcoholic, this phase can occur within several days. However, if in the special case you are Emp Nemio, this phase can occur within a few hours of having your alcohol taken away from you, especially when something traumatizing occurs during those few hours.

It had only been an hour and a half from when Spike left for the BeBop until he walked into the bar for his drink. Meanwhile, Emp, pining for her beloved Spike, turned on her small, outdated computer and looked for news about, what else? Herself. She was all over the news, but nobody mentioned an address, which suggested that nobody _knew_ her address. On day-time talk shows, people came on claiming to have known Emp during her high school years.

"I knew Emp was the odd-one, but I never thought that she would kill somebody, let alone some CEO guy." Claimed some self-proclaimed peer of hers.

"Yeah, we had a great, hot and steamy relationship back in 11th grade, but I wouldn't want her now." Said another. Of course, none of this was true; she didn't know any of these people, but she could hardly care what they said. If telling tall tales about her led the bounty hunters down the wrong path, she hoped they kept bringing in her supposed former lovers and best friends. Plus, it did give her something to laugh about and she couldn't remember the last time she had a good healthy laugh. Well, besides meeting Ed this morning. Ed had stayed for long time, but after awhile, she decided to leave. Emp hoped that she would see that funny tomboy again.

It was before Spike and Jet had finished their talk about Emp and her predicament when she got the e-mail. She was just browsing all kinds of previous news articles about Sabatino when an alert box popped up on her computer screen telling her that a new e-mail had arrived. The e-mail read:

"Dear Emp Carley Nemio, It has come to our attention that you have acquired the help of a bounty hunter. If you are thinking to use your knowledge to destroy or blackmail the Bacala syndicate, then we suggest that you cease these thoughts at once. If you value not only your own life, but your friend's as well, you should turn yourself in to the Bacala syndicate. We await your arrival at 203489 Red Avenue a week from the date of this message. Come alone. –Mark Sabatino"

If the definition of fear had not been known to Emp before, she now knew it just as well as she knew her alcohol. How had they found out about Spike? How had they found about everything? As a gut reaction, she could only think of one thing to do: drink. However, as hard as she tried to open the cabinets where her sanctuary awaited her, she couldn't budge them. Therefore, she decided that the best course of action besides drinking was to pace around the apartment frantically. She became very proficient at doing it too, but after only fifteen minutes, the stress began to take effect. The agony of having absolutely no alcohol at her disposal and the fear of perhaps they could have already shot Spike dead in some dark alley someplace set her phase of "drying-out" in motion. She began to feel cold and feverish at the same time so, by the time Spike came back, she was in bed, curled up, and shivering quite violently.

Spike decided that since there was a lack of alcohol in Emp's apartment, he might as well have enough drinks to hold him off for awhile. Now, walking into her apartment, he wished that he hadn't. As soon as he saw her shivering he was at her side in a split of a second. He touched her shoulder, but he found that it was draped with a heavy knit sweater on top of two t-shirts. She jumped when he touched her and he saw that her face was red and her eyes bloodshot.

"Emp! Emp, what's wrong?" he yelled, feeling her forehead and noticing that she had a very high fever. He wiped a few sweaty strands of hair away from her face then jumped up to get a wet washcloth. When he returned with the cold washcloth, she was shivering so violently that it almost looked like she had gone into convulsions. She jumped and began to hyperventilate when Spike laid the cold cloth on her forehead and as hard as she tried, she couldn't stop her hyperventilation.

"Emp, calm down. It's okay, just breathe normally." Spike tried to plead with her, but her breathing wouldn't slow. "Relax. Everything's alright. I'm here now." When she still couldn't stop her fast breaths, he lifted her enough for him to sit underneath her. He held her against his chest and spoke sternly in her ear. "Listen, Emp. Follow my breaths." He inhaled slowly and then exhaled. He repeated this many times, each time beckoning her to concentrate on the even pace of his breathing. Finally, those fearful chokes and gasps ever so slowly reduced to the speed of his respiration. Shivering and crying, Emp laid her head back on Spike's shoulder as he cradled her and began breathing a sigh of relief. He didn't know what came over her, but it seemed the worst was over.

When Emp woke up, she had a huge headache and the sniffles. She was snuggled up next to Spike, who, sitting up against her brass headboard, had his arms around her along with some blankets. She looked up to ask him what happened, but his head was tilted back in sleep. She reached up and gently stroked his face, but all it succeeded in doing was stir him and make him tighten his embrace around her. She managed to pull away from him and sit up. She looked around and found her clock. It was 6:30 am. She had been asleep since she got the e-mail around 2:00 pm the previous day. The e-mail; it was urgent that she tell Spike about it, but not urgent enough to wake him. He probably watched over her for pretty much the entire night. She smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips. This was enough to wake him, but only to the point of half-consciousness. He was still half asleep when she told him to lie down on the bed and he was apparently still half asleep when he hugged her tightly because he fell asleep with his head on her chest, just below the crook of her neck. Emp giggled and ran her fingers through his soft hair before she fell asleep again.

Her slumber lasted no more than fifteen minutes when she woke up. Spike was lying next to her, watching her sleep. He had taken his coat off and loosened his tie, which meant he must have been awake for at least a few minutes. However, he looked extremely concerned.

"How're you feeling?" asked Spike gravely. Just a few minutes ago, he could barely stay awake and now he sounded as if he had been up for hours. Emp rubbed her eyes and propped herself up on one elbow.

"Okay, I guess. I have a headache though." She replied, her voice as solemn as his.

"You gave me quite a scare yesterday, you know."

"No way! You're Spike Spiegel; you don't get scared." Emp laughed and flopped back on her pillow. She stopped laughing when Spike's hand gently pulled her face closer to his.

"Well I was scared yesterday. After your little bout was over I was afraid to move you, so I just let you sleep." They stared at each other in solemn silence until Emp gave him a warm smile and said, "Good. I needed it. And so did you! You couldn't stay awake for a moment!" Spike gave into her smile and grinned back, but deep in his mind he was still worried about her. If he hadn't figured out a way to calm her breathing, she probably could have suffocated.

"What was that all about, anyway? Why did you get so feverish?" he finally asked her. She propped herself on one elbow again and scratched her head with her other hand.

"Well, all I know is that I started to get really scared with the e-mail and all, so I tried to get a drink, but that was impossible because nothing would budge out of that cabinet. Eventually, I was freezing cold and no matter what I put on, I was still freezing. I think I went through the 'drying-out' phase. I can't be sure." She shrugged and yawned. Spike looked at her with a puzzled look and it was then she remembered the e-mail. "Oh, right! I forgot, I didn't tell you. I got an e-mail from Sabatino yesterday. And I got a little…" she told him, but he had jumped up and was already standing by her computer reading the e-mail.

"I can see how this can scare you a little bit, but were you really that terrified?" he asked her, a mocking smile trying to conceal itself on his face. Emp looked down at the sheets and shrugged her shoulders.

"I was just…just…afraid that they had already gotten you. I couldn't bare the thought that you could be dead somewhere while I was waiting for you to come back. God, I don't even like repeating it." Emp sniffled and was gripping the top sheet of her bed in order to keep her tears back. Spike came over and sat on the edge of her side of the bed, slowly wrapped his arms around her, moved her sweater down her arm a bit, and kissed her shoulder.

"Then don't repeat it." Spike said. She smiled, put her hand on his cheek and sighed in relief.

_YEAH! Horray for mushy loviness. >D lol...it's a bit cheese-ful, but whatever..ee; Anyway, like I said before, forgive me for any/all wrongs things I did with Emp's "drying out" phase...yeah...sniffle It's kinda embarassing to not know anything about it! waa! ...ok..anyway...I'm not going to be home starting from later today to next sunday, so I wanted to leave you tomorrow's chapter before I left. I'm gonna post it up now, but I'd appreciate it if you still commented on each chapter as if they were regulars. :P Thanks! See you in about 5 seconds..._


	11. Chapter 11

_Hi...again. oo; I'm back...wewt...: readsa bit of the begining of ch 11.: omg...corny. XD I still think it's funny though...okay...well..I guess I'll just let you guys read...oh yeah. This chapter is long and important so dont skip out. ee; Pssh..not like you would anyway! lol_

Chapter 11:

My Baby Shot Me Down

Emp took an aspirin for her headache and took a bath for her spirits. A warm bubble bath makes any woman feel great about life, at least until the man pulls the plug. She had been in the bath for about an hour so she felt bubbly and giddy about everything. After she got dressed, she walked out into her kitchen and noticed that not only were her spirits high, but her spirits were out on the table as well. Spike sat staring into a glass of brandy with the bottle not too far away.

"Well, I thought you were out of my life forever," snickered Spike as he grinned from over the top of his glass. "I guess you decided not to elope with the bathtub"

"Nope. It turns out he's already married to Mr. Bubble." She giggled, but her laughter was short as she pointed to the bottle and asked, "What's this doing here?" Spike sipped his brandy and said, "I'm umm, having a drink." Emp grabbed the bottle and walked from the table. Spike got up, getting ready to stop her from drinking, but was surprised to find that she was putting it back in the cabinet.

"Next time, drink these when I'm not around. They bring back memories I'd rather let pass." She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. Spike picked up his glass and carried it to the sink, which was next to her.

"Whatever you want, my dear," he said charmingly as he rinsed out his glass, "I won't drink at all if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Okay, my dear," Emp mocked, but couldn't hold in her laughter. They laughed for awhile and Spike was amazed to see how much she had changed. A few days ago, she was chained to her bed stand awaiting death, or worse: apprehension. She had decided early that she had fallen madly in love with him and he returned the favor by making her wait anxiously while his emotions played badminton with one another. She had been scared by bounty hunters and syndicate leaders all while she battled an alcohol addiction, which she overcame just yesterday. So now, after all she'd been through during the past few weeks, how could she bring herself to smile and laugh? What emotion inside her inspired her enough to live even after what the world, and he, had done to her?

"Please don't let it be me," Spike thought. "I'm not good enough for her. I don't deserve her. Yet she wants me so badly. No matter what I do, I will always be hurting her. She needs someone responsible who won't screw up her life; not someone like me."

"You're so beautiful," he said aloud, "especially when you smile." Emp paused then giggled again as she blushed. She couldn't stop giggling when she replied, "What a silly thing to say Spike."

"But it's true," he continued as he washed his glass, "and nobody, not even Sabatino, has the right to take that smile away from you. We'll get you out of this situation, Emp, and you'll never have to be in it again. Not while I'm alive."

"That's what I'm worried about, "she sighed and walked into her closet. He could hear her rummaging around in there, but he couldn't see what she was doing. By the time he dried his hands, Emp came back out with a metal box. "This was my gun from the ISSP. The ISSP uses advanced technology in its weaponry so it shouldn't be outdated. I know there's no use in trying to convince you to let me go to the Bacalas alone so I figured I could hold onto your gun while you use the better one."

"Are you sure you don't want to use it?" he asked, but Emp just shook her head and replied, "No. I'd feel much safer if you kept it. I could shoot, but I really wasn't that great of a field officer. The ISSP just liked me because I could put two and two together, but just because I want you to have the best gun doesn't mean I want to be unarmed. I want to be able to hold my own if the time comes."

"That makes sense to me. I'll do whatever you want, my dear." Said Spike and as he loaded the gun, two words were on his mind: Mark Sabatino.

For the next week, they planned out their actions. They visited 203489 Red Avenue and discovered that it was an abandoned church. While their end plan wasn't some glamorous scheme, it would do. The plan wasn't like some TV western movie where both the cowboy and the bounty run inside with guns blazing. No, instead, they decided to let Emp go inside alone to see what the Bacalas would tell her if they weren't aware of Spike awaiting somewhere outside. Spike said that chances were that eventually, the Bacalas would be informed by their intelligence outside the church that Emp, in fact, wasn't alone and that's where the action would begin. However, the only problem was could Spike and Emp hold off that many men? Spike knew that he could hold off a lot of them, but Emp's nerves wouldn't let her believe that he could. After all, she had never seem him fight much, but from the stories he told her, she knew he was definitely formidable.

Finally, it was the last day before the rendezvous and although Emp was a nervous wreck inside, she tried her best to conceal it. However, Spike knew the truth for he had witnessed it when they had first met. She would act like she was having a great time all the while there was a pessimistic air about her, but Spike wasn't quite sure why. He wished that he could get into her head, but hew knew that if he could, he would be lost in her many neurotic thoughts.

All day long she was hanging on to him; kissing him at any given moment or suddenly embracing him from behind. It bugged him a little bit, but for the most part, he didn't want to push her away, so he tried his best to cope with her constant affections. It was as if she thought this may be their last day together or maybe she was scared and just wanted to be comforted; there were many possibilities for why she was more attached to him on this day than any other, but Spike didn't really care about what they were. He just wanted to destroy the cause of her anxiety.

That night, Spike took a shower and came out to find Emp sitting at her window staring into the open sky. She seemed very solemn and worried, just like he had seen her before. He pulled up a chair beside her and put a cigarette in his mouth. They sat in silence for a long time before Emp spoke.

"So, what am I going to do after you fix my problem for me?" she said, a small smile curled upon her face. Spike gave her a strange look.

"What do you mean 'I'? You're staying with me." He responded, his voice semi-muffled because of his unlit cigarette. Emp turned to him with a smile.

"Oh, so you mean you're not just here while it's fun?"

"No way," he laughed and placed his arm around her waist, "You're mine." Emp giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. With a great sigh she whispered, "I like being yours. You make sure I'm fed, that I get proper exercise, and that I don't eat strange things out of the gutters."

"Emp, I didn't mean it like…" Spike started, giving her another look. Why was she acting so strange?

"I know," she said, cutting him off, "I'm just giving you a hard time, that's all. The only reason I'm not helping you is because you wont let me. I owe a lot to you, you know. If it wasn't because of you, I'd be in jail right now for a murder I didn't commit just because I happen to know to much. You saved my life, Spike, in more ways than one." He drew her closer and pitched his unlit cigarette out the window.

"Don't thank me yet. There's still work to be done."

The next morning, Spike was in no hurry to get to the church. He wanted Emp to be as comfortable as possible, being that she was going to walk into the middle of a group of criminals all alone. Despite being the actual day of action, Emp was surprisingly less stressed than the previous day. After what Spike said about not leaving her, she felt better about everything. It seemed that it wasn't the actual plan that worried her; that she could handle. She was an ex-ISSP officer after all. What really worried her was the thought that Spike would leave her after everything was said and done. Things would have settled down by then and he might not like the quiet life, being a bounty hunter and all. She didn't want to be the flavor of the week; she had been that before and it hurt.

They took a taxi to a place near the church so nobody from the Bacalas would see her getting out of the car with him. They walked to the church by different routes and as Emp approached it, she began to get nervous. This church wasn't a small building; it was a cathedral and could most likely hold many, many men. However, she refused to back down now; she was so close to her freedom.

She walked into the cathedral, Spike's gun concealed in her long, flowing overcoat. The only light in the building was from the many stained glass windows, but it was still very dim. She couldn't see anybody, but as she continued down the rows of pews a voice stopped her.

"That's far enough!" barked a rough voice as a man stepped out from the pews in front of her. He was dressed in a white business suit and had black hair; it was Mark Sabatino. The picture she had seen from the Big Shot database scared her just a bit, but her blood ran cold as Sabatino stared her down with his cold, dark Italian eyes. Emp knew that if she stalled long, the Bacala intelligence from outside would alert Sabatino about Spike and then all hell would break loose.

"Nice little mafia trick you pulled, Sabatino. Try to get me out of the picture so all your little friends in high places wouldn't know that you ordered the murder of Cid Travailler!" laughed Emp, trying to cover her nerves. Sabatino's expression just scared Emp more when he added a small grin.

"So you liked it, did you? Well, we here in the syndicates know a lot more nifty tricks so you'd better hold your tongue, Ms. Nemio." And Emp did just that. After Sabatino was sure that she wasn't going to interrupt him, he continued, "I've brought you here in order to make a deal with you. As you are well aware of, you have the information needed in order to bring me to the mercy of the courts, however, as I am sure you have also noticed, you have a bounty on your head. A very large one, in fact, so I seriously doubt many are going to believe you. To a bounty hunter, you're just a price tag; to a civilian, you're a murderer. I am ready to make you an offer, though. I will remove the bounty off of your head and leave your lover alone as long as you comply with the Bacalas and myself."

"What do you want me to do?" said Emp, choking with a mixture of fear and excitement. The bounty lifted and the threat of Spike being hurt dissipated? What more did she want? Or, what more did she not want? Most likely, the consequence of complying with the Bacalas was worse than anything jail would do to her.

"We simply want you to come with us where you will be under surveillance so no information will leak out. As long as you don't try to escape, no harm will come to you." Said Sabatino, his voice sounding enticing and soothing. Emp contemplated this thought and mumbled to herself, "And not being able to see Spike again?"

"No," replied Sabatino, a small mocking laugh in his voice, "I'm afraid his safety comes with a price as well. You wont be able to see you beloved…Spike again. If you ask me, this is quite reasonable."

"NO!" yelled Emp, sternly, "This is insane. You think you can run peoples' lives like this? Well, you're wrong. I'm not going to comply with any of your stupid deals nor am I going to settle with being sent to jail for a crime I didn't commit. Spike and I will find the correct proof and end your reign of terror on the Martian public! In the end it is _you_ who will suffer, Sabatino!" His smile faded and seemed to frown uneasily at her. His dark eyes, which were beady to begin with, leered at her even more angrily.

"I would watch what you say, Ms. Nemio. Don't lie to yourself. Do you really think that your bounty hunter friend is really in love with you? He's only attraction to you is your price tag. By getting to your heart, he can get paid and live the _real_ happily-ever-after. He doesn't want some poor, out of work scum like you! Don't you think for a minute that…" he roared at her, but she cut him off with top volume.

"Shut up! I love him and that's all that matters! No idiotic mind trick you pull on me will ever change my mind! I'm going to bring you down!" she bellowed and it seemed to echo not only in the cathedral, but in her head as well. She knew what she said to be true; she loved him. She would do anything for him, even if that meant letting him turn her in; even if that meant dying. He had shown her what life and love really was and she wasn't going to let some big shot syndicate leader make her forget how much she did love him. However, as soon as she finished telling Sabatino her thoughts someone ran into the scene from behind Sabatino stating that Emp wasn't alone.

"What! Do you mean the bounty hunter is here too?" yelled Sabatino in dismay.

"Yes, sir." Replied the syndicate member.

"Well, get the men after him."

"It seems that he has already shot down most of the outside intelligence and is making his way inside!" Sabatino turned his attention to Emp. He glared at her with such rage and pointed.

"YOU!" he turned to his underling and before he walked back into the darkness ordered, "I want _her_ in a casket NOW!" Upon hearing this Emp began running to where she thought the doors were, but she found that it was too dark and she was too scared to find the exit. She found herself near some more pews and turned around to get some bearings as to where the exit was. Instead, she saw a man pointing a gun at her, but just as he pulled the trigger someone yelled "GET DOWN!" and pounced on her, pushing her into the pews. It was Spike and he had his gun out, ready to defend her.

"Stay hidden as best as possible and run to the exit. I'll cover you." He whispered and one second later, was on his feet following her to the exit and shooting off rounds of bullets behind her. When she got outside the cathedral, Spike had stopped shooting and she ran to him, but he told her to keep running away from the building. She ran as fast as she could down the sidewalk and could hear Spike's footfalls behind her until the grenade went off in the cathedral. She was almost knocked off her feet, but in the end managed to keep balance. She turned around to find Spike, but in the smoke, he was nowhere to be found. She stood there in the middle of the sidewalk searching for Spike, but instead, Sabatino walked out of the thick smoke, laughing and pointing a gun at her. Emp, frozen in fear and forgetting about her own gun, didn't know what to do. She tried to run, but her feet were glued to the sidewalk beneath them. She really thought it was the end, but just as he pulled the trigger, Spike leapt in front of her, shooting a bullet straight into Sabatino's forehead in the process. However, he did not come out unscathed. He had taken Sabatino's bullet in his stomach and was clutching it in pain as he smiled at Emp.

"I told you I'd get him." Spike coughed, "You just have to trust me." He was grinning at her, but she was sitting on her knees in utter disbelief, the tears streaming down her face. Then suddenly, he cringed a bit and Emp scrambled to him. She placed his head on her lap and searched him for a phone. She dialed the last number he had dialed: Jet.

Jet picked up the phone, not expecting what he was about to receive. He didn't even look at the visual screen, but held it to his ear, only to move it away abruptly when Emp yelled, "Hello? Hello? Help! Whoever you are, you've got to help me!"

"Huh?" said Jet, but after he realized who it was on the phone, continued, "Emp Nemio! What's going on?"

"It's Spike. He's been shot in the stomach! Oh, you've got to help me!" she cried, holding the phone with two hands.

"Spike? Oh great…where are you?" asked Jet and after Emp told him the address, he said, gravely, "Alright. I'll be there in two minutes."

After hanging up the phone, Emp looked down at Spike, who was slowly losing consciousness. She gently stroked his hair with one hand and applied pressure to his wound with the other. In hope of keeping him awake longer, she whispered to him, "Spike. Spike, stay awake. You've got to stay awake. Please, Spike. Don't leave me. Please!"

"Emp," Spike managed to say, "I…love you." Emp kissed him, her tears dropping onto his face, and whispered, "I love you too, Spike. More than anything." By the time Jet arrived, Spike had already lost consciousness and Emp was cradling his head in her arms.

The BeBop was larger than Emp had imagined. Now she could understand how it could hold three ships. However, how it held four people and a dog, she couldn't see. It was almost completely unfurnished besides the yellow couch and single seat. Of course, she hadn't seen the personal rooms, but she imagined that they couldn't be much better than the 'living room'.

Even though Jet was helping her out, he and Faye couldn't ignore that she was a bounty on a bounty hunting ship, so they threw her into some vacant room and locked her in. She was miserable; all she did was cry all day long and sulk in the corners of the room. However, being locked into a room didn't mean she was isolated from everyone else. Jet came in a few times to bring her food, water, and information on Spike's condition.

"He'll live, but he wont be awake for a few days, knowing him at least." He said, scratching his head, "I'm sorry we have to lock you up like this, but you understand." Jet tried to sound cheerful, but he knew that it was no use. She had a hopeless case of depression. The only cure was to get Spike back in the picture, but who knew how long he'd be unconscious? He had been out for at least three days at a time when he got shot, which happened quite often. In the meantime, however, Emp would have to be kept where she couldn't run away, but whether it was for her own good or theirs, Emp wasn't quite sure and for the most part, neither was Jet.

Jet wasn't the only visitor Emp had; Faye was not only the one who locked her up, but she came by a few times, mostly to agonize her. Faye asked her lots of questions about why she stuck with Spike and why Spike thought she was innocent. Emp didn't give her extravagant answers and mostly didn't care about Faye until the last time Faye chatted with her.

"You know, I don't think we'll be letting you go, no matter how innocent Spike thinks you are. Not now anyways." Cooed Faye, who had come in univited to Emp's 'room'. Emp looked at her with wide eyes. Was Spike still okay?

"Wha…what do you mean?" Emp stuttered.

"Well, it seems that they upped your bounty to 20,000,000 woolongs." If Emp hadn't been sitting, she probably would have fallen over. 20,000,000 woolongs! Spike got rid of her problem so why would she have suddenly been swept into deeper waters? Emp cried, "What? Why?"

"Here," said Faye, handing Emp a news article printed off the computer, "Read it for yourself." She read it, some of the words aloud while others mumbled.

"Emp Nemio, the criminal wanted for the murder of chief ISSP Executive Cid Travailler, has now been accused of the murder of Mark Sabatino's double. 'I usually have a double, you know, someone who looks just like me, just in case of something like this. Some crazy broad wants me dead so I play it safe while my double takes care of some of my public appearances. I never knew that she'd actually try to off me' says Sabatino. Her weapon and the blood of probably another victim, Spike Spiegel, was found at the scene of the crime. However, authorities cannot locate the body, living or dead, of Spike Spiegel. As for the bounty hunters who have been on her trail for almost a month, they should be more motivated to catch this cold blooded killer since her bounty, once at a whopping 11,000,000 woolongs, was now raised to 20,000,000 by Sabatino, who hopes for a speedy capture." Read Emp, "What kind of BS is this? You and I both know that I didn't shoot him!" Faye shook her head.

"I don't know what happened. I wasn't there."

"Oh," sniffled Emp, her nerves beginning to get the best of her, "I hope Spike can get me out of this." Upon hearing this, Faye decided to be the antagonist again. She slowly stepped closer to Emp and, changing her voice to a more agitated tone, said, "Yeah, about that. I don't appreciate you stealing my man from me."

"What do you mean?" Emp gulped. What could Faye possibly mean? Then it occurred to her: when she first met her, Faye had mentioned having some sort of relationship with Spike. She didn't mean that they were together, did she? Faye, enjoying the puzzled and worried look on Emp's face, continued her fake story. She got up real close in Emp's face and gave her a cold stare.

"You know what I mean. Spike is mine and I don't want you luring him into your little trap, get it? Plus, it's all his angle. If he hasn't slept with you, you _know_ he's not in love with you. He's just trying to get you to us and I'd say he's done a pretty good job of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think we're done here, you little murderer." Faye's voice was very cold and mean, but as she turned her back, she could hear Emp start choking up. It was then Faye's conscious kicked in. She didn't know personally what Emp had been through, but she knew well enough that it couldn't be anything short from Hell. Maybe she really was in love with Spike. Maybe she really was innocent. It occurred to Faye that Emp didn't really meet the cold blooded killer profile, especially if she was constantly bawling like she had heard her do during the past few days. However, it really wasn't her problem whether or not Emp got sent to jail.

"I didn't kill anyone, Faye." Whimpered Emp. Faye stopped dead in her tracks. It almost seemed as if Emp had been reading her thoughts. Emp continued, after she seemed sure that she had Faye's full attention, "Faye, you've got to help me, please. I cant prove my innocence by myself." Yet again, Faye's conscious set in. Was she actually starting to believe Emp's pitiful story? However, Faye still derived that it wasn't her problem, but she didn't want to be too cruel.

"Yeah, like I owe _you_ any favors," Faye said with a fake optimism, "But listen, I'm sure that if you're innocent, the police will straighten it all up when we turn you in. Just be optimistic. I mean, things could be worse. You could be dead." Emp looked up at her, gravely and, without any emotion other than sorrow asked, "That's worse?" Faye stood in the doorway staring at Emp's cold eyes and, without saying anything, shut the door.

Emp was devastated. Spike never mentioned anything about relationship with Faye besides her being a colleague. How could he deceive her like that? But, even after two testimonials that Spike was just using her heart to get her to the BeBop, she still wasn't completely convinced that Spike didn't really love her. He had kissed her, held her, taken care of her, and taken a bullet for her. Of course, bounty hunters don't get any money if the bounty is dead, but if he died, he wouldn't get the money either. Plus, his eyes showed such emotion when they looked into hers. They showed such affection and compassion, even at times when he didn't say anything to express his feelings. The moments they shared, the words that were said, and their time spent together, even if it was a short time, led her to believe that there was something else there other than to get to her price tag. However, she didn't know what to think about him and Faye. Was it true? She couldn't tell.

"But I guess it doesn't matter as long as I'm cooped up in here. I'm going to be shipped off to the nearest police station in a day or two." Sighed Emp, but it seemed that her prayers were answered. As soon as she said that, The door opened and Ed peered in.

"Emp Emp!" whispered Ed, "We must evacuate the BeBop immediately! Now! _Now_!" Emp stood up briskly and stepped towards the door just as Ein popped his head into the room.

"Ed, why are you helping me?" asked Emp, baffled.

"Ed has been doing nasty, nasty research for Emp Emp. Ed knows Emp Emp is not guilty, right Ein?" continued Ed, motioning to Ein, who barked a response. Ed motioned Emp to follow her and said, "Ed and Ein will cover for you in this dangerous mission impossible!"

"Oh Ed, thank you so much! How can I thank you?" asked Emp, who was now on the BeBop's landing pad outside.

"Umm," thought Ed, "you can bring back souvenirs for Ed!" Emp nodded and slinked off as Ed and Ein ran back inside to make sure that nobody saw them.

Four hours after Emp's great escape, Spike finally woke up. He groggily sat up, cringing only a bit from his injury. His eyes finally focused just as Jet was walking by. Spike jumped to his feet and began to interrogate Jet.

"Where's Emp? You didn't turn her in did you?" he growled at Jet, who stopped from walking, startled.

"Well, we were considering it, but she escaped. By Ed's help I presume." Responded Jet.

"I thought you said you would help her." Continued Spike, grabbing his shirt and jacket.

"Yeah, well when the _real_ Sabatino upped her bounty to 20,000,000, Faye and I couldn't resist."

"What do you mean the real Sabatino?" asked Spike, puzzled. He paused from putting on his jacket. 20,000,000 woolongs: that was enough to attract even more bounty hunters than before. Her bounty almost didn't seem reasonable. Spike had seen many serial killers worth only half that and those were the criminals who were actually guilty.

"Well, the Sabatino you shot was his double. Some guy who looks like him in order to protect him. Somehow, he altered the evidence to show that Emp killed the guy and possibly you." Jet said and continued when Spike began to speed-walk to the door, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? To protect my woman." He answered. Jet continued after Spike all the way to the ship hanger, where the Swordfish II was parked.

"Spike, c'mon! It's 20,000,000 woolongs! She cant possibly mean that much to you!" pleaded Jet. Spike turned on him.

"Jet, either you help her or you help Sabatino. Which ever one you choose, I don't care, because I know that I've made the right choice." Spike gave Jet one last glance and then jumped into the Swordfish only to take off leaving Jet behind to ponder his decision and Faye, who was secretly watching, wishing she hadn't lied to Emp.

_Let's see...who's more evil in my story? Sabatino or Faye? XD You know...if I were Spike...I definately turn Emp in for the cash. uu yup yup! ee; JUST KIDDING! Since I started rewriting this fic, I had wanted to created that fight scene between Spike and Sabatino for awhile...that whole double thing? woo. I just love that...to me, it's like...weird...in a sorta-kinda-good way...ee; Of course, I'm rambling, but I dont know...whatever. lol. I just hoped you like it:D BTW, until I revised chapter 10 a few days before I put it up, I didnt realize how much some of the sentences I write DONT make sense...ee; Keep in mind that I write this stuff at like...9:30 at night...xX; My brain kinda shuts down in the grammarical sense and turns on in the creative sense so...yeah. I dont think there's that much, but yeah...excuse the mispells and such. Anyway...enough of me! I'll see you guys next week after I get back from camp. :P BYEE! hugs_


	12. Chapter 12

_OMG! hugs everybody I love you! I missed you all when I went away to camp...ee; sorry..I've been hugging everyone...I'm suddenly appreciative of everybody around me. Anyway...this is a long chappie...sorta...last chapter was longer by ALOT...() wewt...this one is like...HUGE! Dramatic and like...kinda scary...well...read it and see!_

Chapter 12:

Tourniquet

Spike dashed up the apartment building's stairs. He was hoping she'd be in her apartment. He knew that would probably be the first place she would go, but he prayed that another bounty hunter wouldn't be there as well. As he approached her apartment, he heard a clamor and he started to fear that his nightmare had become a reality.

He rushed into her apartment and luckily, there was no bounty hunter, but what he saw made him wonder if another bounty hunter would be any worse. The handcuffs that were snapped onto her alcohol cabinet were gone and that was when he remembered that he had taken them off when he had his drink, but all was not well in her kitchen. There was Emp, stumbling around chairs as every single bottle of booze she owned was wobbling on the table, half empty. When she saw him standing there, she dropped her glass of brandy and it went shattering to the floor.

"Spike, you're alive! How was the afterlife? Did you have a great time?" slurred Emp, struggling to keep standing. She then realized that she had dropped her glass so she took up a bottle and began to drink from it. Spike strode over to her quickly and snatched the bottle from her.

"Oh, you want some too? Go for it! I'll take this one over here." She sputtered again, reaching for another bottle, but he snatched that one and some of the others too. It took her a minute to realize what he was doing, but when she did, she let out a yell.

"NOOO! Don't pour them down the drain! What the hell are you doing, stupid bunty hatter!" she shrieked and tried to snatch them from his hand frantically, but he continued to pour them down even as she screamed bloody murder.

"I told you I don't want you drinking anymore. It's going to kill you before Sabatino does." Spike tried to reason, but Emp wouldn't have it so she picked up an empty bottle from her table and smashed it against her chair. Then, with a loud battle shriek, she attempted to run at him with the sharp bottle half, but she tripped and dropped it on the floor. Luckily, Spike caught her before she fell to the floor in despair. She sagged in his arms, practically kneeling on the floor, sobbing more than he had ever seen her.

"Emp…" he began, but she cut him off.

"Why didn't you tell me about you and Faye?" she bawled, her face distorted in sorrow

"What do you mean? What about me and Faye?" asked Spike, trying to pull her up from the floor.

"She told me everything! You and her…you're her lover!" she continued, trying to stand up to the best of her ability. She knew what all this drinking would do to her, but she didn't care. In fact, she felt that she would be lucky if it killed her before Sabatino did.

"No, Emp. I'm not with Faye. She lied to you." Spike tried to look into her eyes, but he almost didn't want to. Emp's eyes were always filled with such emotion and he could hear how dispirited Emp was. He was afraid to see all that sorrow in her eyes.

Spike had always been trusted by Emp, even when he shouldn't have been trusted. He thought that today would be just like any other day: he would say something and she would take his word for it. It was just the way things operated in the past. However, Emp was not only a lot less reasonable when she was drunk, but she had convinced herself that Faye had told her the truth. So, Spike was at a lost for words when Emp cried, "Liar. LIAR! You let me believe that you were single! You let me believe that you loved me! How do you sleep at night, knowing that you've been luring me into the bounty hunter death trap that you had set for me? Do you do that often? Play with women's hearts, making them fall helplessly in love with you and making them believe that you truly love them back? Well, do you, Spike Spiegel!"

"Emp…I…" choked Spike, but he couldn't say anything. He couldn't find words to say and if he did, he wouldn't be able to say them.

"I was ready to do anything for you!" Emp screamed again, but her rage slowed. "If you wanted the bounty, you could have just asked. I would have gladly turned myself in if it made you happy. I would have, Spike. I really would have. I would have even handed you the woolongs myself if you wanted. I thought you loved me. How could I have been so foolish? How could a great guy like you ever possibly fall in love with me? Who wants to love a drunken, ugly, poor tramp like me? Nobody has loved me before, why should the man I love suddenly fall in love with me? How could I have been so blind?" Spike couldn't stand her tears. Emp wasn't just ready for death, she was asking the Grim Reaper to take her. He didn't want to see her like this. He had seen her truly happy and content and to see her now, wanting death and hating life, was torture to him.

"Emp, don't listen to Faye or anyone else. I love you. I love you more than life and definitely more than money." He said, his voice steady and soothing. She almost succumbed to his tender voice, but her blood-alcohol level wouldn't allow it.

"Oh shut it! Just shut up! I wish you would just die!" she bellowed, her tears flowing nonstop from her bloodshot eyes. Spike stood there for a moment, wishing that she would come back to her senses and trust him, but it was useless. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun. Without disrupting their eye contact, he brought the gun slowly to his head and placed the barrel to his temple. Emp stared into his eyes, seeing a melancholy which reflected the same pain as was in her soul, and just as his finger was beginning to move down on the trigger, she screamed, "NO! SPIKE!"

Spike's finger released pressure on the trigger, but he kept the gun to his temple. He watched as his miserable Emp, sobbing and pleading, dropped to her knees, her face in her hands. She was trembling all over, her shaking head accentuated by her shivers, and she kept weeping and repeating, "No. Don't. Stop." He slowly lowered the gun and set it down on the table. He approached her gently as she was rocking back and forth, her face glued to her hands and crying the same thing over and over again. No. Don't. Stop. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to his own body. He placed one hand tenderly on the back of her head and soothingly rested it on his shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm not going to do it." He told her. She slowly stopped repeating 'No. Don't. Stop' and soon, all Spike could hear was her sobs. Finally, after she had calmed down enough to listen to him reasonably, he whispered to her, slowly and compassionately, "Emp, I love you more than anything and for your sake, don't forget that."

That night, Emp slept soundly while clinging to Spike, however he wasn't as lucky. He kept on thinking about her bounty and how much he wanted to assuage her pain. He hadn't seen her in such hysterics before and he hoped that he never had to see it again. He wanted to make her happy, but how? As long as her bounty was 200,000,000 woolongs, she was going to be in danger wherever she went. It was getting harder and harder for a bounty to hide, not to mention harder and harder to keep Emp from falling off the deep end. To think of all the anxiety she went through when he got shot; it was almost more painful than his bullet wound.

The next day, neither of them spoke much. Emp was quiet, solemn, and, as much as Spike wished it wasn't so, ashamed. He wanted her to forget what happened the night before, but he decided not to say anything. Finally, half way through the morning, Emp convinced Spike to let her change his bandages. He sat on the edge of the bed while she took off his old bandages and put on new ones. All was silent until finally Emp spoke timidly.

"Spike, listen…about last night…" She sniffled avoiding eye contact with him.

"What about it?" asked Spike, soothingly. He wanted to avoid the conversation as much as he figured she did. Emp looked up, almost startled and Spike caught a glimpse of anxiety in her eyes.

"Well, I didn't mean to say…" she began, but Spike cut her off.

"Let's try to forget about last night." He said.

"Forget about it? How can we just forget about it! I said that I wanted you…" she trailed off; Spike was staring into her eyes and she couldn't help but be drawn into them. She forgot what she was going to say for a few moments, but then she continued, "I just wanted to say…"

"Sorry?" Spike cut her off, "No. Dont apologize. You don't need to and it's probably better if we just dont talk about last night." She looked at him, almost helpless, but then, to his surprise, she placed her hand on his face and kissed him. However, this wasn't just one of her little kisses she gave him; this was a full kiss. Soon Spike was on his back and they were passionately kissing. After a few more seconds, Emp pulled away and tried to hide a smile.

"So, do you think I've apologized enough?" she said, her smile showing.

"Just barely." Laughed Spike and he wrapped his arms around her as she rested her head on his shoulder, giggling. However, this moment was cut short by a loud knocking on the door. They both sat up quickly and Spike could hear Emp's breath quicken. He looked around and saw that the corner between her bed and the window could probably hide Emp enough if the person at the door was a bounty hunter. He pointed to the corner and whispered to Emp, "go hide over there until I tell you to come out." Emp did as she was told, but inside, she was so scared that she couldn't cry. Both of them feared that it might be another bounty hunter come to claim her price tag, but they were only half right.

Spike slowly opened the door just enough to see out into the hallway and saw that it was Jet. Spike opened the door wide, but stood in the doorway, a stern look of distrust on his face. Jet sighed and said, "Spike, I just came to see if she was alright." Spike let him in, but didn't motion for Emp to come out of hiding.

"Well, I guess you're late like me. She's not here." Spike lied, but this time, it was very believable. Jet stared at him aghast.

"You mean, you never found her? Well, what are you doing here? Go find her!" yelled Jet, almost in a panic.

"Why? Because another bounty hunter might get to her?" asked Spike, annoyed.

"Yeah, that or Sabatino might get to her. Don't you care? I mean, you cared enough to take a bullet for her…" said Jet, but Spike began listening to something else.

"Quiet!" he whispered and Jet stopped talking. Spike looked towards the door and all of a sudden ran towards the other side of the bed and yelled "Get down!"

Jet followed him behind the bed just as a bounty hunter kicked down the door. Spike looked at Jet sternly and said, "Protect her and get her out of here as soon as you can." Then, he ran around to the middle of the room, gun drawn. Jet looked after him in confusion and almost jumped when he turned to see Emp cowering in the corner, tears streaming down her face.

Spike was concealed in a corner when the bounty hunter came strolling into the middle of the room casually with his pistol drawn. When he passed in front of Spike in the corner, Spike lunged at him with a kick to the head. As they were fist fighting, Spike found that this bounty hunter, or whoever he was, was a formidable opponent. Jet had paid attention to what Spike told him; as soon as Spike and the intruder carried their fight off to the kitchen, Jet grabbed Emp's arm and pulled her towards the door.

"C'mon, we're getting out of here!" he yelled as he yanked the scared Emp towards the front door and she tried to look back to see Spike, but was outside the door before she could catch a glimpse. Jet pulled her down the stairs and by the time they exited the building, Emp was running as well. She followed him down an alleyway and they jumped into his ship, the Hammerhead.

"Wha…what are we going to do?" cried Emp, looking down every possible entrance and exit to the alleyway.

"We're going to wait for a sign from Spike." He said, then turned to her and growled, "And stop looking down the alleyway. Nobody's coming!" Emp cowered at his tone and Jet sighed, scratched his head, and continued, "Don't worry about anything. Spike and I've got you covered." He laughed and almost expected Emp to continue to cower, but instead, she gave him a small smile. Even with a smile as small as she gave him, Jet couldn't help but understand why Spike fell in love with her. However that wasn't the only thing he realized; he realized that she really was innocent.

_Okay...perhaps it was a tad OOC for Spike...he gets really hard to write. xx; bah. Jet is such a nice guy...sheesh...lol. I mean...yeah he's a bounty hunter, but I always pictured him as a guy with a soft spot for people inneed. Especially for somebody likeEmp...and as for poorEmp...wow...does SHE have issues..xx; lets just say that her attributes, other than being totally in love with Spike, areCOMPLETELY different frommine. XDD See yaguys next week...I better start writing chapter 16...you guys are catching up to me! _


	13. Chapter 13

_Heey! Sorry about this being a late update...I have barely been able to keep up with stuff this week. xx; anyway...here's the lovely chapter 13...wewt! ; this one is an interesting one...and not really THAT dramatic or action packed, but it has it's moment halfway through to the end...well...just read it. ee; Lol...eeeeenjoy:D_

Chapter 13:

Fortunate Fool

After about fifteen minutes of waiting with Jet, Spike came walking out the apartment building briskly, carrying one of Emp's small suitcases that she had stuffed in her closet. Emp had already been relieved that Jet wasn't going to turn her in and now she felt even more relieved to know that Spike was alright. She was so happy to see him that she almost jumped on him when he climbed into the Hammerhead. He returned her hugs, but she noticed that his face was very serious, and that bothered her; she was in deep trouble.

"So…what are we going to do now?" Emp asked blandly. Spike scratched his head in thought and stared straight ahead. Jet let out a big sigh and tossed his glances between Emp and Spike.

"Well, I guess you come live on the BeBop and we'll take you off Mars," Spike said and Jet gave him a sharp look, "not like that will be any safer; most cons wanted everywhere." Jet continued to stare at Spike and Spike at Jet while all poor Emp could do was look between them and consider all of the many reasons Jet would probably not want her on the ship. However, in the end, she decided that maybe as long as she didn't think about it, nothing bad would happen. Finally, the tense moment broke when Jet sighed and heavily turned around to fly the Hammerhead. Now, the hunter and the hunted would be living with the hunter's _other_ friends.

For Emp, the BeBop, unfortunately, was a very familiar scene. However, this time, she wasn't being taken against her will, but even that aspect didn't make the tattered ship any prettier. Even though it was a haven, that didn't necessarily mean it had to be glamorous, because, it wasn't. Of course, the worst part of the whole ordeal was Faye. Remembering what lies Faye had told her during her last visit to the BeBop created a queasy feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. To think of Spike holding that gun to his head almost made her physically sick and that was one less thing that everybody needed.

Even though Emp's security problems had been temporarily solved, there was still the issue of obliterating her bounty. Spike and Jet had desperately tried to remember any specific or omitted details about the operation she and her partner were investigating, but she just couldn't remember any of them. Eventually, they just began to give up on her personal testimony and Sabatino had done a very thorough job of destroying all evidence. It had been a week on the BeBop for Emp, and a fruitless week at that.

However, for everyone, it was fruitless in more ways than one. Being that nobody was making any money, there was hardly any food to pass around. Faye insisted that the "freeloader", who apparently was Emp, should get the smallest ration possible, but Spike still gave her an equal sized ration and also suggested that maybe Faye should receive less food being that she wasn't trying to help Emp's situation even a little bit. This kind of tension grew between everyone on the Bebop, except for Emp who spent her days sitting in the corner of Spike's and her tiny cabin thinking of what she could possibly remember about the Bacala Investigation, but nothing came. Lack of food and lack of progress discouraged Jet and secretly Spike.

Finally, Emp came upon a small idea; maybe Sabatino sent out another threatening e-mail to Emp's computer, which was unfortunately back in her apartment. Of course, hacking into people's e-mail accounts was what Ed liked best, so reading her e-mail was light-years short of a problem not to mention worthwhile. There was indeed a message, and it was just as threatening as the first, if not more.

"Miss Emp Nemio. It seems that not only have you not obeyed our orders, but you have come to us with hostility. We merely wished to speak with you, but however, you have chosen most unwisely. Being that our orders were not met, we will proceed to fulfill our previous promise. However, also being that you are in fact the murderer of one of our syndicate members, we shall extend our threat to your other bounty hunter friends. If the wish to save themselves, we suggest that they cease giving you their assistance. –Mark Sabatino"

As soon as Emp finished reading the entire message, she walked away towards her cabin, shakily, while the rest of the crew huddled around Ed's monitor. The feeling in the pit of her stomach grew about ten-fold as she nervously stared out into nothing. When she reached her cabin, she stared at the metal walls wide eyed and was so scared that her mind was absolutely blank. It was this emptiness that almost caused her to faint when Spike silently entered and placed his cold hand on her shoulder. She was at a loss, a dead end, once more and as she cried in his arms she hated him for his gentle words. "It'll be fine" and "Don't worry about it". She hated him with a burning passion for those words, those lies, but at the same time, with that same burning passion, she loved him more than ever. She knew what he wanted to do and she desperately wanted to stop him; he was going to put his life on the line again. Not for himself. Not for justice. For her. You can give many things to the person you love: your body, your heart, your mind. But amongst everything you can give a person, there is one thing that should never be given: your life. No matter how much you love another person, no one deserves your life and in Spike's case, he had already twice threatened to give her just that: his life for hers. And Emp did not want the third time to be the charm.

Later that night, after everyone else was asleep, Emp restlessly woke to find that Spike was absent from her side. She sat up and thought for a few minutes about whether or not she should leave the room to find him, and about 10 minutes later, she was walking up the halls following the voices she could hear from outside her room. Those voices, who belonged to Spike and Jet, led her to the bridge, where she stealthily waited outside of, just close enough to eavesdrop.

"We can't just give up on her." Spike stated, using his famed cool and calm stature to hide the stormy emotions inside.

"Spike, her company could very well mean the death of _all_ of us! NOT just her!" Jet growled. Emp knew he was right, and as much as she wished it weren't true, she realized that indirectly, she could murderer the only friends she had, not to mention her only love.

"If we can expose Sabatino…" Spike began, but Jet hastily cut him off.

"There isn't any _evidence_ to expose Sabatino. Spike, we need to…" Now it was Spike's turn to cut Jet off, and what he had to say struck fear and worry into Emp's heart.

"What if I killed him?" There was a deathly silence and even though Emp couldn't see the look on their faces, she imagined the scene perfectly: Spike and Jet facing off, staring at each other just like they did in the Hammerhead weeks ago. Spike's jaw squared and his eyes melting down Jet's very existence with their cold yet fiery stare; containing no pity, but teeming with passion. Finally, Jet, the black dog who, when he bites, never lets go, steps down from the stare down and says, "You know exactly what would happen if _you_ killed Sabatino…"

"Emp would be free." He said, his voice soft and airy, as if he wasn't really talking to Jet, but think aloud.

"And you would be a murderer. Plus, there isn't much of a guarantee that the bounty will be lifted once Sabatino is dead and the rest of the syndicate would be after all of us even more than they are now. Syndicates are…" Spike snapped at Jet, "Don't tell me about syndicates! _I_ know syndicates!" There it was again: that silence. You could almost hear the dreams of the BeBop crew who were asleep and you could almost feel the tension between Spike and Jet, like a stretched rubber band. However, before the rubber band could snap, Spike let out one cold, flat laugh and continued, "Plus, it's either him or us, right?"

"You can do whatever you want because it's obviously not what I want, and it's probably not what Emp wants either, if that matters." Said Jet. Emp looked down and thought. Spike's murder of Sabatino would definitely mean an increase in danger for everybody, but that's not the only thing that bothered her. If he _did_ kill Sabatino, how would her feelings towards him change? She didn't want to love a murderer, but she also didn't want to stop loving him. Could she still love him even with the knowledge that he killed someone? Never! Spike wasn't a murderer! She didn't want to become the inciting force that would lead him to kill somebody. "But, if you do decide to kill him, you can never come back to the BeBop. We're abandoning you, Spike. End of story."

No! She wouldn't let that happen to him! It was all her fault that the BeBop got into this mess and she was going to get them out of it. What if _she _killed Sabatino? She'd probably be sent to jail, but that was going to be the case anyway, right? The syndicate would most likely think that it was a desperate attempt at freedom after being deserted by the BeBop. At least, that's what she hoped. If she was going to go down, she at least wanted to free her friends before she was finished.

With her mind set, Emp hurriedly snuck back to their room and pretended to be asleep just before Spike came back to the room. She listened to him, focusing her mind on every single one of his breaths, including one large and heavy sigh. He got down and laid on his back besides her. She was wide awake and even with her back turned to him, she could still hear him mutter quietly, "What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

The next morning, Spike rolled over to find that Emp wasn't next to him. He didn't think much of it, being that he himself could be a late sleeper. She probably went to go get some breakfast or something. So, he got up stiffly and trudged over to the door, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He had a late night last night, talking to Jet and all.

He shuffled out to the main cabin where the BeBop's gaudy yellow couch permanently sat. Nobody really acknowledged his entrance, but it's not like he cared or anything. He stood there for a minute, analyzing the scene, wondering when his collaged eyes would land upon sweet neurotic Emp, and was quite puzzled when that moment never came. He scratched his head and looked around the room for her, but she failed to magically appear before him.

"Hey," he asked, "have you guys seen Emp?" Jet, who was tapping away at his computer, as usual, looked up at him with a confused look and responded, "No. We thought she was sleeping late with you."

"Yeah. With thought that you two had a…um.._late night_, if you catch my drift," Faye hummed, a cackle in her voice. Spike just looked at her amusedly.

"Well, of course I know you'd just _love_ to know about my current sexual status, but I'm looking for my woman, if you don't mind." He turned back to Jet, "So, you haven't seen her?"

"Not since I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning." Jet turned his focus back onto his computer, "Anyways, I wouldn't be too worried. She's not stupid enough to leave by herself."

"…or merciful enough either," spat Faye. Spike just ignored her and sighed and began plodding back to his room when suddenly Ed called out from the far side of the room.

"Emp-Emp went bye-bye! Back back, never coming back!" she sang. Spike stopped cold and turned around to see Ed laying on the floor, staring at him upside down. He looked to Jet and then to Faye, who both were staring at him in bewilderment.

"You don't think that she heard our conversation last night, do you Spike?" asked Jet, a genuine concerned tone in his voice. Spike stared at him, but he was actually staring into his own mind. Could she have heard everything? Even the part about how he said that he was going to kill Sabatino himself? What would she do? He knew she was unstable, but would she really try to bring that responsibility onto herself?

Spike suddenly cantered off to his room, and a the sound of shuffling objects in his room, Jet went after him. Jet peered into the door way and met Spike's gaze again. He was standing at the metal desk in the room, his gun holster and ammo lying askew on the desktop.

"She took my gun, which means that she's gone to kill Sabatino herself," Spike said, almost angrily. He looked down at all the things on the desk and after a period of silence, he furiously swept them off the top and as they noisily hit the floor, Spike shoved past Jet and vigorously walked off to grab another firearm.

"What are you doing, Spike?" asked Jet, following him. He wasn't seriously thinking about going after her was he? How could he possibly be devoted to one person so much?

"I'm going to rescue my damsel in distress, can't you tell?" responded Spike, thrusting his new gun into it's holster.

"But Spike, she's made her decision. If she wants to go after Sabatino, let her!" Spike stopped coldly in his tracks, and without turning around, he spoke his last words to Jet clearly and callously, "If you want to help her, find as much evidence against Sabatino as you can, but don't try to tell me that you want me to let her go out to die." With that, Spike strolled over to the docking area for the Swordfish. Faye stood at the entrance and handed him his jacket.

"Are you coming back alive?" she asked, her voice uninterested. He gave her a look out of the corner of his eye as he took his jacket.

"Not without her, I'm not."

_There...how was it? I've been thinking...there have to be a BUNCH of people thinking that the way I write Spike is like...too emotional...but I figure that Spike used to be more emotional when he was in love with Julia (Pre-bebop days...) and so I'm trying to capture that. I mean, it's my own interpretation, but I really think that he's a bit more expressive with Emp...shrug But it's all good...:P Comments and critiques!_


	14. Chapter 14

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_Alright...here is it...CLIMAX TIME! OO! Aren't you excited? I am...omg. lol...I'm just too psyched (and behind in my writing) so I'm just gonna keep it short...READ ON PEOPLE! ;_

Chapter 14:

Past the Point of No Return

Spike's dark grey trench coat was in pretty good shape, even though it definitely showed insights to Spike's past, which was riddled with bullet holes, swordfights, grenades, and broken cathedral windows. Emp just hoped that her blood wouldn't add to the menagerie of the coat's stories. She didn't think that Spike would miss it too much after he found out that she had left to do what he was planning to do. She didn't even think he'd notice it.

In order to leave unnoticed, Emp got up at two and left the BeBop by 2:30 in the morning. However, she wasn't as unnoticed as she hoped she would be. Strange little Edward caught her trying to leave, and Emp explained to her that she might never be coming back, which she regretted saying now. But, it was too late for second guessing herself, wasn't it? She was feeling sorry for herself. She almost wished that she hadn't met Spike or fallen in love with him for that matter. She almost wanted it to be all over, but it was too late for that too, wasn't it? She _had_ fallen in love with Spike, she had _loved_ falling in love with him, and now she was on her way to, perhaps, certain death. Did it really matter? Maybe. She wasn't quite sure. Sure, she was being brave by taking a cab with a gun stuffed down the back of her jeans, but what would she do when the time came to put a bullet into Sabatino's skull? Sure, she had it all worked out down to how many times she would blink, but could she really pull the whole thing off? Well, I guess you could say that she had to. She had to, or else…or else what? Or else nothing. The only thing that depended on what would happen next would be her life alone, nothing more. The thing was, she was scared. She _wanted _to live. She wasn't in that mindset where "well, my life sucks so I don't really give a care in hell what happens to me next". There was life for her afterwards, but now, she could not turn back. No. She was past the point of no return.

As the taxi pulled up to a warehouse, miles away from her home, she paid the fare and stood outside of the vast building, suddenly remembering everything. This is where it happened. This is where Sabatino not only murdered Cid Travaille and her partner, Mack McGinnis, but murdered her soul as well. She felt the aching pain in the back of her shoulder throb to nebulous life. She was falling into an ebb of time. She could almost feel the warm blood seeping from her wound down her back, and out with that blood flowed something else. Her own weakness, the weakness that had developed slowly after she had been forced to leave the ISSP, was bleeding out of her and being replaced with a rage so fiery that Prometheus would shy away from its flame. The part of her that had fallen asleep after her final ISSP mission was awakening within her, calling out for revenge. She was ready, now; ready to kill Mark Sabatino.

"But," she said, her voice timid and weak, "maybe that part of me that fell asleep doesn't realize that revenge is a dish best served cold." Her own words drained the old spirit of Emp out of her body and she felt lifeless. There was no more blood on her back and she wasn't in pain anymore. There wasn't going to be a corpse of Cid Travaille or Mack McGinnis inside that warehouse. All she knew regarding what was going to be in there was that Sabatino would be in there, waiting for her. Before she took her first step towards the evil building, she whispered to herself the only words she could find that reassured her even a little bit, "Hell wouldn't even expect me to do what I'm about to do."

With that one step she took, she not only left all regret behind, but she freed herself from her old spirit. The spirit that had been inside her, confusing her, making her drink, and creating that constant feeling that somebody was _always_ right behind her, watching. She suddenly felt as it she could breathe easier, and it bemused her because she knew that she was walking into a death trap. There was one fear that this release of burden created inside her stomach: what if now, after her old soul was finally left to rest, she couldn't pull the trigger? What if she couldn't really do it after all? She knew that Spike was probably on his way, but he'd never find her in time to help her. This whole killing thing, righteous or wicked, suddenly grew cold as tasteless in her mouth. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to let herself down; she was going to do what she could. It was all spontaneous now.

She opened the door to the warehouse and stepped in. It looked the same, but she wasn't as afraid of the haunt as she was almost sure she would be. _That part of me is gone now. Gone forever…_ There were no stains of where they were shot when trying to escape. There weren't _any_ faces, let alone faces that she could recognize. It was a new place. She remembered what her report contained about Sabatino and this warehouse. It wasn't the headquarters of the syndicate. It was only the main warehouse where Sabatino received all his illegally received imports. He was in with Cid, one of the heads of the ISSP, to make sure that Sabatino's activities would go on unmonitored and unchecked. He was bringing in stolen ship parts that he purchased for _way_ less from the group who stole them off of supply trucks. She remembered that when Sabatino came here, he never brought too many men with him at once in order to reduce the chance of information getting out. Emp and Mack had been infiltrating the Bacalas for weeks before he finally brought them and divulged information about the warehouse and what he was doing. The same day that Cid was killed, they had discovered Emp and Mack talking secretly in some dark corner of the warehouse and attempted to "silence" them. So now, Emp figured, he probably brings even less men to protect him and work for him when he goes there. She new that even with the knowledge that Sabatino visited this place often, the chances were small that he would be there on that particular day, but somehow she knew that today was a day that he was visiting. Call it women's intuition or whatever you want, but for some reason, she could _feel_ that he was there. So now, knowing and remembering all of these details, she was ready.

"SABATINO!" she shrieked. "GET OUT HERE SABATINO!" He heard that. He had to have heard it. Her voice echoed loudly around the concrete and steel stomach of the building.

Indeed, Sabatino did hear her. He was in the main office of the warehouse, talking with his shipping people and whatnot when he stopped. He looked out the large glass window that viewed Emp standing out in the middle of the warehouse, staring directly towards him. He looked at her almost surprised, then gave a small smile.

"Hey Jay," he said to his large black body guard, "Ever seen a woman in distress?" Jay shook his head. Sabatino's smile grew wider as he looked out at Emp, who was yelling at him again, and laughed, "Well, you're about to."

"SABATINOOO!" Emp sung, her voice raspy, tears flowing down her face, "I'm here! C'mon out you coward!" Sabatino, in his prim and proper grey suit and tie, strolled out with one hand in his pocket and the ten men in the room right on his tail. They began to pull out their weapons, but Sabatino motioned them to back off and stand off in the corner instead.

"Weell, if it isn't Miss Emp Nemio," Sabatino laughed, dryly, "Why are you here, my dear?"

"I'm tired of running. I want to end this whole thing." She replied, her voice still loud even though he was closer. What a stupid thing for him to ask; he was the one who _wanted_ her there. He was merely playing with her mind, and that frustrated her even more. The tears streaming down her face were warm, heated by her adrenaline, not cold tears of fear. She could feel the weight of the gun she had tucked in the back of her jeans, but she wasn't ready to use it. She wondered if she'd ever be ready to use it.

"Is that so?" he mused, "I love women who get things done by themselves instead of depending on men to do them."

"Well, it just so happens that I love men who let me get things done by myself, which wasn't the case with Spike," she laughed. It was true: Spike would never have let her do this by herself, but it's not like she hated him for it. She just wanted to make Sabatino think that she did. Her plan would never work if they thought that she wasn't alone.

"Aw. What a shame. I feel bad, really I do." That scum. You _know_ he wasn't feeling bad for _anything_. His bitter smile showed just that.

"Yeah? Well, let's get down to business. I'm here, what do you want me to do now?" she asked, using one shaking hand to wipe away the tears on her face. Sabatino took a few steps closer to her, but they were still 20 feet apart from each other.

"I want the name that contact you used that you didn't put in your ISSP report," Sabatino growled, his expression changing from sweet to sour. However, Emp had no idea what he was talking about. She divulged _all_ information in her last report, didn't she?

"What the hell are you talking about Sabatino? I listed _all_ contacts in that report," she said. Sabatino's grin reappeared.

"Oh yes, you did. But you didn't list the REAL name of your most important contact! You wrote down a nickname or something, but it wasn't his real name!" She still had no recollection of what we was referring to, but she knew why he wanted it. In order to erase all evidence that they had been smuggling parts, he needed to 'erase' all people who knew about what they were up to. These people she used as contacts to find out more about Sabatino and the Bacalas. If he didn't know the real name of the final and most important contact, then there was one huge missing link floating out there. This was the missing link that could prove her innocent in court. She then thanked God that she didn't remember who it was that she didn't list him in her report.

"NEMIO!" Sabatino spat as he took one large menacing step towards her, "I WANT that name! GIVE IT TO ME!" Emp stared at him and smiled. Watching him beg was excellent.

"JAY!" he yelled, "Kill her, NOW!" Emp's smile fade as she saw the huge black man in the corner take out some huge gun out of his coat and she almost fainted as a bloody bullet hole found its way between his eyes. _He's got people behind me?_ She wanted to duck, run, _anything_, but her body wouldn't move. With wide eyes, she managed to turn her head to see the shooter from behind and her muscles finally gave way when she saw who it was.

"Of course," she whispered, a small grin appearing on her face as she watched Spike Spiegel burst in, guns blazing. All of a sudden, she felt as if everything was moving in slow motion. She turned around to see that already, he had taken out six of the ten body guards, who were fumbling their guns. However, her moment of slow motion didn't last for much longer when an enemy bullet whizzed by her face.

"Don't just stand there, Emp! Get down already!" yelled Spike. She hit the floor heavily and lost sight of everything. She looked around the room where bullets were flying by and yells echoed, but she couldn't make out any of the shapes to be anybody. Where was Spike? _No!_ Where was Sabatino? _He_ was the one she wanted now. However, just as she was about to stand up, the echoing yells and blasts suddenly stopped. She lifted her head to see dead men lying the in the corners of the room, seeping blood, eyes wide open. She was strong, but she still couldn't hold back her tears at the gory sight.

Suddenly, someone walked up to her and held out their hand to help her up. It was Spike. She took his hand and wobbly got to her feet. However, instead of embracing her or asking if she was alright he coldly turned from her. Emp thought that maybe he was angry with her for running off to do something as stupid as what she had decided she had to do, but when she surveyed the situation further, she noticed that he had turned to Sabatino, who was on his knee, apparently trying to stand up. His eyes widened with fear as Spike pointed the gun at him.

"Well," said Spike, his voice far from angry, "I guess it's your turn, Sabatino." Emp didn't think it was possible, but Sabatino's eyes widened even more at Spike's words. He was trembling, which was a surprise. She had figured that a mobster as nefarious as Sabatino would be used to being at gunpoint. _But I guess when you think about it, they usually are the ones who are behind the trigger._

"M-Mr. S-S-Spiegel…wh-what would you get from shooting m-me? I-I never did anyth-thing to y-you!" Sabatino stuttered, trying his best to regain his calm and businesslike stature. Spike just flashed him an amused grin.

"You are a nuisance to Emp and that's enough motivation for me," Spike said. Emp huddled behind him, clutching his left arm, which was hanging at his side. She watched Sabatino nervously from over Spike's shoulder. For one moment, Sabatino's glance shifted from Spike to Emp and they had a split second of direct eye contact. That short second made Emp's heart skip a beat; he looked terrified, but yet, he looked as if he knew something would help him stay alive. It wasn't a hope, but more like a knowledge that they would not succeed. Then Emp realized the flaw in their plan. Sure, they'd be rid of Sabatino, but then they would both be credited with his murder and they wouldn't be able to find any evidence to prove either herself or Spike innocent. Why? Because they weren't. They killed a mob boss and that counts as murder, despite how much good it did to the community. The only way they could get away with it was if it was self-defense, but Sabatino was kneeling on the floor, unarmed. She and Spike would be sent to jail, even if they had found the evidence that explained that her bounty was just a way to get her out the picture. She realized what the look in Sabatino's eyes meant. She knew what flaw that they would have in killing him. The flaw was her.

"Spike," she whimpered, "we can't kill him. We'll be sent to jail for murder if we do." Her wide eyes focused on Sabatino, who gave her a nervous and sly smile just as Spike's smile faded.

"I think it's a little too late to be worrying about that, you know." Spike said, his voice still as smooth as glass. Her eyes flickered around the room to all the gruesome bodies.

"But, _they_ were getting ready to shoot me. It was like, self-defense, right? But if we kill him, an unarmed man, we'll…" she clutched his arm harder and leered at Sabatino. He knew that she would do this!

"So, what do you suppose we do then?"

"Let him go. We'll go to the police and have them sort out everything. I remember more stuff about the ISSP operation so maybe that will help, I don't know. We'll think of something, but we can't kill him like this. As much as I wish we could…we can't, Spike." She could feel Spike's body loose tension and he slowly lowered the gun. He continued to stand there and stare irately at Sabatino. Sabatino suddenly let out an armada of breaths as if he had been submerged in water the entire time and was just now reaching the surface. _He's out of hot water now._ Spike wished that Emp wasn't there; she was the only reason he wasn't going to shoot the dick kneeling on the floor, pretending like he was thankful that they had just spared his life. He had known just as well as Spike himself did that Emp would intervene.

"C'mon," Emp said, resolutely, "I need to get out of this tomb." She tugged on his arm and Spike reluctantly followed behind her. The sky outside was a dissimilar swirl of dark grey clouds and the air smelled of wet pavement. They began to walk a bit faster in order to get to the Swordfish before it began to rain on them, however, they only were able to put a little distance behind them before a gun shot ran out. Emp almost fell over, but she braced herself by gripping Spike's arm. She looked up to his face in fear and saw that he was staring straight ahead, jaw clenched tightly. He took his free hand and wiped away the blood from the cut that the bullet made on his cheek when it grazed his face.

"S-Spike! Are you… "Emp began but a cold laugh cut her short. Sabatino was standing at the door of the warehouse, pointing a gun in their direction and laughing his head off.

"You didn't _really_ think that I'd let you _go_, did you?" he cackled. Emp looked back to Spike and was practically thrown aside as he whipped around, pulled out his gun, and fired shots at Sabatino.

Emp waited. _Where's the noise?_ She had flinched in anticipation of the sound of Spike's gunfire, but instead of a loud bang like she had heard in the warehouse, all she heard was a small "click". The clip was empty. _Even if Spike had tried to kill Sabatino inside, there weren't any more bullets left to shoot him with!_ Spike, without moving a single muscle except his hand, dropped the gun and it fell to the ground with a dusty thud. Emp clutched to Spike's arm once more and peered around his shoulder like a little child.

"Ha! Ha! Just my luck!" Sabatino chortled and adjusted his aim, "But then next one's going to be in dear Nemio's forehead." Spike shoved her behind him, shielding her, and she cowered behind him. _We're never getting out of this alive._ Just then, a small cold drop of water landed on her arm and as it slowly slithered down towards the pull of gravity, she felt it: that heavy feeling in the back of her jeans. She still had _her_ gun, which was fully loaded. She had almost forgotten about it! So, as the small raindrops began falling down to earth, slowly growing in number, she rested her head on Spike's back.

"There is still a way, Spike," she whispered, a sad smile appearing on her face. As she reached back and touched the cold metal, she took Spike's hand with her other hand. Finally, with a sniffle and a small laugh, she slid the heavy pistol into his hand and said breathlessly, "Blow him away."

"So, any final words you two?" said Sabatino, his mind completely blind to what was going to happen, "I _really_ wish I could kill both of you together, but I don't think that this gun is capable of that at this range." Spike, with the gun in his hand behind his back, flashed his cool look at Sabatino and grinned.

"Well, we don't want you to go to so much trouble for _us_," Spike laughed. There was a cold and still silence. Sabatino held his stilled gun pointed at Spike's head with a smug grin. Spike noiselessly fastened his grip on Emp's gun, unable to distinguish between the coldness of the steel and Emp's icy hand. Emp huddled against Spike, silently crying and trying to swallow her fears once and for all. Meanwhile, the rain fell upon them like snow, light and hushed. In that moment, there was complete silence, and as quickly as it had swept over them, it was shattered. Quicker than any bullet, Spke shoved Emp to the ground and lunged at Sabatino. Sabatino reacted quickly enough and shot at Spike, but it wasn't Spike's time. With a dodge roll, he shot and landed his bullet effortlessly.

Sabatino didn't fall down right away, but took one large step back. His eyes almost popped out of his head and as blood began to trickle out of the corner of his mouth in small coughs. Judging by his range, Spike was pretty sure that the bullet merely stayed deep in Sabatino's chest instead of exiting out his back. The gun in Sabatino's hand merely succumbed to the gravity and clamored to the ground, leaving the limpness of Sabatino's hand in the past, and at long last, the _real_ Sabatino followed it, face first into the damp dirt. The rain began to plummet down from the sky.

Spike, who was belly down in the dirt and trying to swallow the taste of the adrenaline that had flooded into his mouth, rolled over onto his back and let the rain fall over his face. _I've been through much tougher stuff than this. So why then do I feel so relieved?_ He let out a huge sigh. This battle was far from over, but Emp's immediate danger had finally been diminished and she was safe at last.

"Hey Emp," he called, his voice breathy and calm, "you alright?" He could hear her sniffling and crying not too far away. He called for her again, but all he heard were sobs. He propped himself up on his elbows to look for her and he saw her. She was only a couple feet away sitting on her knees, crying to the sky. Spike slowly stood up and strode over to her. He stood above her, his shadow caressing her as she looked down and wept into her hands, and then he knelt down next to her, pressing his body up against hers.

"Don't cry," he said quietly, moving her hands away and wiping away a tear from her cheek, "you don't need to be afraid anymore." She looked at him, tears coursing down her face, and although she didn't smile to reassure him, he could see in her eyes that she wasn't afraid. She took a long deep breath and cried into his shoulder. Contemplating their next move, Spike placed one hand on the back of her head on one on her back, holding her and letting her cry until the police came and took them away.

_Okay...what do you think? Thank god that idiot Sabatino is gone...that &!# is an insult to the italian race...XD Okay..so the story is coming to a close and we're actually to the point where I havent finished writing the next chapters so there may be a bit more of a wait...sooo...I'll see ya guys soon! ; wave BYEE!_


	15. Chapter 15

_Alrighty! You guys actually caught up to me! I had to finish writing this one! Okay...so this is like...the sad and unhappy chapter...for the longest time I didnt know how to finish the story after Sabatino dies, but I got it...and this is it. It's not the end (yet), but almost...almost my sweets! ; N-joy!_

Chapter 15:

Adieu

Spike was right: their trouble was far from over, however, there was hope for Emp yet. They were charged with murder, for Sabatino and his men, but in both cases, the fact that the victims were baring or using their weapons razed all of the prosecuting evidence. Spike was free from the murder charges and Emp was free from her accessory to murder charges within three months. Unfortunately, Emp still had one more case to deal with; the district attorneys still thought that she was behind the Travailler murder and as much as Spike and Emp hoped, the correct evidence didn't show up to free her.

However, just when it seemed that all hope was lost, Emp was rescued by the last person in the universe that anyone would have thought would help: Faye Valentine. She felt bad for Emp and about everything she had said to her, so she decided to look for evidence at the last minute. The strange thing is she actually found it. She somehow managed to get a hold of Emp's final ISSP report and track down the person behind the fake name. Once found, he was given immunity for his testimony and his words were as good as gold. He told the court everything from what Sabatino was doing with ISSP to how he murdered Travailler. He recounted every bit of information down to the last bloody detail and that was just enough to sway the jury. They awarded the BeBop the 20, 000, 000 woolongs that had been put up for Emp's capture and then gave Emp 15, 000, 000 woolongs in emotional compensation. Within six months of Sabatino's death, Emp was freer than a bird and more lively than ever.

As for the money the BeBop received, they were more than pleased to accept it. They split it between themselves and bought a well-deserved meal. Jet was eager to leave Mars and begin their regular life again. They had freed Emp and he felt that their time on Mars was done for awhile. However, Spike was torn. He could either stay with Emp on Mars, living a normal life the way he never thought he could, or he could continue on with the BeBop, catching crimals for nothing except a sum of money. He loved Emp, but could he really stay with her? No. He knew very well that he could never adapt to a lifestyle like that. The only other option was to take her with him. That might work. He knew Jet might not be happy with the idea, but Emp did have some former training from the ISSP, even though she didn't seem like she was presently very efficient at it. Plus, she _did_ have money now. Spike was sure that Jet wouldn't ignore those seven zeros in her bank account. Jet was a nice guy, but just like all other bounty hunters, the money always came first.

"You want to WHAT?" yelled Jet, his eyes popping out of his head. Spike had just told him what he had thought about bringing Emp aboard.

"You heard me, Jet. I haven't exactly mentioned it to her yet, but what do you think?" Spike said, sighing into his cigarette. It had only two weeks since Emp's murder case had been settled and Jet was just about ready to push the BeBop out of Mars' orbit if he had to.

"What do _I_ think?" Jet laughed, "I think you've gone insane, Spike! You can't bring somebody like _her_ into the bounty hunting world!" Somebody like her? What was _that_ supposed to mean?

"Why not? I could teach her to fight and everything. Plus, she's stopped her alcoholism so that's one less bill to pay." Spike calmly sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the lighted table in the BeBop's bridge. He took a long breath from his cigarette, exhaled and stared at Jet innocently through the smoke.

"I'm not saying that she's weak, Spike. I'm just saying that she's…well, she's liable to crack. She's not all together, if you know what I'm saying." Jet put his face in one hand and sighed. "It's not that she's crazy or anything, but she might not be able to handle all the violence and all that. Especially if you're involved. She has this wild image of you built up in her mind that presents you as some sort of ethical pacifist or something, and you and I _both_ know that you're most definitely not. She doesn't see you as the brutal bounty hunter that you and I are familiar with."

"So, what are you saying?" asked Spike, drawing in from his cigarette as if it was oxygen, his expression of innocence altering to one more solemn.

"I'm saying that if you bring her to the BeBop and make her one of us, you're going to be introducing her to a place and a part of _you_ she probably won't like. This _whole entire_ ordeal she just got finished surviving will be shoved in her face every time she goes out to capture somebody who is just like the person she just got finished being! Do you _really_ want to send her into that? Not to mention that any enemy of yours will be quite jovial with the idea of using her as a way to get to you!" Jet sat quietly after his crescendoing speech and watched Spike blow out wafting rivulets of smoke from his nose.

"You do realize that she has a bit of money now that she'll be most glad to spend on us, don't you?" Spike said, his voice flat as he stared straight at Jet through his veil of smoke. Jet growled and slammed his fist on the lit table, half expecting Spike to flinch, which he did not.

"This _isn't_ about the _money_! This is about the danger that _you_ will be putting her into!" he yelled madly at Spike.

"Are you trying to tell me…" Spike began but Jet pounded both fists onto the table and spat his bellowing conclusion, "I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT SHE'S BETTER OFF WITHOUT _YOU_!" A deafening silence followed as Jet began to shake off his frustration and calm down. Spike looked at the slowly disappearing twirling strands of smoke drifting weightlessly in the dark room, which was lit only by the glowing blue table they were sitting at. He seemed to be staring at those ribbons for hours when suddenly his eyes clicked back to Jet's. Jet saw that look in Spike's eyes and wondered if he really had gotten through to him.

It was the Saturday two weeks after the "not guilty" verdict in Emp's case. She was at the Mars Interplanetary Mall. After having finally dealt with the ever notorious press and their questions earlier that week, Emp had decided that it was time to give in to her feminine roots; she just _had_ to go shopping. However, she was determined to forbid herself from spending all of her new money on clothes and jewelry. She wanted to redo her apartment, especially since it was chock full of bullet holes, although it wasn't a very good apartment to begin with. Of course, she wasn't even sure if she was going to be staying on Mars or not, being that she might leave the planet with Spike, but she thought that maybe she should keep the apartment just in case she and Spike wanted to get off the BeBop's cold premises when they got to Mars or something. She would always have a home on Mars if she ever needed it. The landlord of her building had decided to add on an apartment across from her own on her flat. She could always ask the new tenant if they would watch her apartment while she was away. It really would be a nice adventure to leave Mars behind for the first time and see other planets. These were ideas that she had fallen in love with instantly and couldn't stop thinking about. Her life was finally going to change for the better.

At 5pm, she realized that she hadn't talked to Spike since when she left the house that morning. She didn't make him go with her because she figured that he would just sulk, as men do when their girlfriends drag them to the mall. Anyway, she decided to give him a call to let him know what her "ETA" was. However, since Emp didn't have Spike's mobile number, she called her house, and as the phone rang, she dreamt about all the things she could do on other planets. The answering machine caught her off guard.

"Huh? OH! Hi, Spike! It's me. I guess you're out for a bit. I don't blame you, it's a great day! I um…just wanted to let you know that I'll be home in about an hour. WOW I had fun today! GOD! I completely forgot how great it feels to shop! I bought a whole new outfit that you'll love….well, you might not, but who cares? I love it! Anyway, um…yeah, so I'll be back…err..soon I guess. It really depends on how fast I can get a taxi and how bad the traffic is. I'm just walking outside of the mall to the street, so it should be soon. By the way, I didn't get you anything cause you'd probably think that's stupid. Haha! Okay, so we'll grab a bite when I get back, kay? I'm STARVING so think of what you feel like eating cause I could care less! Love ya! Byee!" She hung up the phone, and sighed. She hadn't left a message in a long time, but she still left the same type of messages: long and stupid. Emp hadn't felt depressed in a few weeks either; it was great. She couldn't believe how good she felt! However, she did notice that because she felt 150 better, her mouth was running 150 faster than before. _I wonder if Spike gets annoyed? Maybe he like me better as "depressed-less-talkative-Emp"?_ She sincerely hoped not, and doubted it. Even if he was annoyed a bit, he wouldn't dislike her more, would he? He probably just utilized the 'smile-and-nod' trick, sans the smile part. A guy who barely says anything in love with a girl who says everything? How taboo was that? _Well, maybe it's not taboo, but it sure is ironic._

Finally, she hailed a taxi and took it across town back to her apartment. As she hopped up the stairs eagerly, she realized how much she just wanted to jump into Spike's arms and thank him for saving her. In her mind, her story had to be a mix of every Disney fairytale imaginable and while part of her told her that everything would be fine, another teeny-tiny part of her wondered if the fairytale was over. However, she shook away all bad feelings as she approached her door. She opened it up and laughing at herself, she stumbled a bit.

"Hey Spike!" she called, "Spiiiike!" No answer. She went over to her bed and set down her stuff then walked over to the kitchen. After peeking around the rest of her small apartment, she felt that tiny voice inside of her start talking again. _He's left you. You're such a fool, Emp Nemio. _But she swallowed the feeling once more, telling herself that she was just being paranoid and that she had always thought this before when it was simply not true. However, as she walked over to her desk across from her bed, she saw a note sitting alone. With trembling hands, she picked it up and began to read it. Her hands began to tremble so badly that she had to hold the wretched note with two hands and her face slowly began to twist into a woeful expression. The note read:

"Dear Emp, None of this is easy to say so I had to leave this note instead. There are certain things you probably won't understand but I'll try to explain them the best I can anyway. My world and yours are two completely different places and for the brief time you experienced my world, I could tell that you were unable to cope with it. I can't bare to send you into that again. The thing you have to understand is that I'm not good for you. Being a bounty hunter is what I do and I don't think I can ever live the kind of life you're used to living. I don't want you to think of these as excuses for not being with you because that's not the case. I just wish that there was some other way for us, but I just can't find one.

-Spike

P.S. I left my part of the awarded bounty money for you. I don't deserve a single cent of it."

As familiar tears raced silently down her cheeks, her eyes drifted up from the letter and over to the woolongs on the desk. Voicelessly crying, she walked over to the desk, folded the letter around the money and placed it in the to drawer. She turned around, looked around her room slowly, then sunk down to the floor, face in her hands, sobbing her heart dry. Her fairytale was finished. The book was closed and she had to return to the real world which was life.

_Okay...so did it catch you by surprise at all? hopes I wanted it to seem kind of like "yey it's a happy ending...woah..crap...just kidding..." Well..I dont want to ruin any moments that might be happening right now so I'll keep this short. It might be awhile before the next chapter because I well...I have to like...start it and I dont know how much more it's gonna be till finito so I dunno...it just could be awhile if you get my drift. ee;; Okay...bye bye for now my pretties! XD lol..._


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